Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) has put on hold its plan to build a light rail line between Tambaram and Velachery, sources said.
The State government, in its plan to expand the rail-based transport system across the city and to suburbs, first completed the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd.’s Phase I project covering 45 km, then the Phase I extension running for 10 km and now Phase II project’s construction has taken off at multiple locations in the city aiming to start initial operations between Poonamallee and Power House by 2025.
Simultaneously, CMRL was given the job to study extending it towards the south in two ways — Airport to Kilambakkam and Tambaram to Velachery. As far as the Tambaram to Velachery stretch is concerned, sources said CMRL has finished the feasibility report but has now decided to temporarily put it on hold. This is because, most areas that the Tambaram-Velachery stretch aim to cover will be done either in Phase II project or the Airport-Kilambakkam stretch.
“Therefore, we are wondering if a new light rail is required now. There are some challenges in carrying out work on this stretch owing to restricted right of way in a few areas. We are only putting it on hold for now. A final decision will be taken later,” a source said.
Meanwhile, plans are afoot for building a mass rapid transit system in other cities in the State such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli and Salem.
