Aug 14, 2018 / The Hindu
The Chennai Metro Rail plans to extend one of its corridors in the phase II project - from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee — that will cover a distance of nearly 13 km with 10 stations. This extension from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee will benefit thousands of people living in the western part of the city. The areas which will get stations (in this extension) include Karambakkam, Porur Junction, Sri Ramachandra Hospital, Iyyapanthangal Bus Depot, Kaatupakkam, Kumananchavadi, Karayanchavadi, Mullai Thottam, Poonamallee Bus Terminus and Poonamalle Bypass, officials said. This extension will cost nearly 3,850 crore.
Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II project covers 108 km of the city touching upon 116 stations and it will comprise three corridors — Madhavaram to Shollinganallur, Light House to CMBT and Madhavaram to Siruseri. Of these three, the corridor from Light House, instead of touching its original destination of CMBT, will take a detour and go all the way up to Poonamallee via Valasarawakkam.
This extension till Poonamallee was originally not part of the phase II project and was added only recently for the benefit of commuters living in the western city of the city.
According to Chennai Metro Rail Limited officials, the detailed project report (DPR) is currently being prepared and once it is ready, more information regarding this stretch such as the expected number of people who will travel, the exact route through which the train will travel and various other technical information for construction will be available.
Whether this stretch from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee will be underground or elevated will also be known only after the DPR is ready.
“Then, we will subsequently see how much land is required and the other issues involved. But work on this project can begin only after we know from where to get the funding from. We are looking at a lot of options such as approaching a few banks for funding this stretch,” an official said.
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited has approached Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding a part of the other two stretches - Madhavaram to CMBT and Madhavaram to Shollinganallur alone.
CMRL has begun acquiring land for these two stretches and also conducting soil tests in various locations across the city.