The satellite bus terminus proposal in Velachery has been put on hold in view of monorail project.
As the monorail operator is yet to be identified, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has asked the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd to restrict the preparation of a feasibility study and a detailed project report to only the Madhavaram satellite bus terminus.
The CMDA has decided to wait till the monorail depot and alignment in Velachery is finalised. The construction of the satellite bus terminus in Velachery would depend on the collective decision of CMDA and MTC to synchronise the monorail hub and mofussil bus stand.
The first phase of monorail system would have a network of four elevated corridors, of which Velachery would be connected to Vandalur via Tambaram East.
The State government had already approved CMDA's proposal to develop the two satellite inter-city bus terminals at a total cost of Rs.80 crore in Madhavaram and Velachery.
The facilities were proposed to supplement the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus in Koyambedu. About 2,000 mofussil buses operate from Koyambedu daily, which serves over two lakh passengers a day.
The feasibility study and detailed project report for the facility in Madhavaram, likely to come up in an 8-acre site, would be ready in three months.
It would accommodate some of the bus services operated through the Grand Northern Trunk Road.
A 12 acre vacant site near MRTS station in Velachery was identified for the Rs.48 crore facility. Some of the bus services operated through the East Coast Road and the Rajiv Gandhi Salai were to be shifted here. The area of mofussil bus stand would depend on the land requirement for monorail depot in Velachery.
