Chennai Metro Rail stations in the phase I extension project, coming up in north Chennai, may have new names before they are opened to the public early next year.
The project will be 9 km-long and will connect Washermenpet with Wimco Nagar.
Four stations
The names of the stations were decided when the detailed project report was prepared. Washermenpet, Thiyagaraya College, Korukkupet, Tondiarpet, Toll Gate, Thangal, Gowri Ashram, Tiruvottiyur and Wimco Nagar were the stations on the route. Four of these are likely to be renamed.
Korukkupet station will be renamed Tondiarpet, while the existing Tondiarpet station will become New Washermenpet. Thangal Metro station will be renamed Kaladipet, and Gowri Ashram will become Tiruvottiyur Theradi.
Sources said the High Power Committee in the government had approved the renaming.
“One of the reasons for changing [the names] may be to use names familiar to the residents of the area,” a source said.
All stations are in different stages of construction and Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) is planning to finish the project by the end of this year or early next year. “Track work is nearly complete and a few key systems for operations will be installed now,” an official said.
Renaming of stations has been done a few times in the past, like when the OTA station in phase I came to be called Nanganallur station. Arignar Anna Alandur Metro, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Metro and Puratchi Thalaivi Dr. J. Jayalalithaa CMBT Metro are some stations which got new names recently.
