CHENNAI: Metro Rail is gearing up for a busy year ahead! With its underground operations all set to commence by the middle of next month, work is on to prepare the detailed project report for the next three corridors in the Second phase, to be submitted to the State government.
On Tuesday, top officials of the rail network surveyed the proposed alignment of the three corridors selected under the second phase.
The survey by the team, including managing director, came after the consultant CDM Smith submitted the feasibility study for Phase II of Metro Rail Corridors.
Currently, RITES is preparing a DPR which would approximately cover 88 km. This is expected to be over by April or May, and submitted to the State government for approval in June or July, said a senior metro rail official.
The three corridors include Madhavaram to Siruseri (41km), Nerkundram to Light House (14km) and Madhavaram to Perumbakkam (33km).
Of the 88 km plus stretch under the second phase, 54 km would be underground while the rest would be elevated. The total cost as per the feasibility report is estimated at Rs 42,000 crore. The cost of underground stretch is worked at Rs 32,000 crore and for the elevated stretch Rs 10,000 crore.
But how soon would the corridors be ready? If one goes by the feasibility report, 32 km of the third corridor would be ready by the end of 2021. The remaining portions of the third corridor besides other two corridors are expected to be completed by 2026.
Corridor 3 starts from Madhavaram at the northern end and runs up to Siruseri at the southern end for a length of 40.2 km. It connects important centers like Moolakadai, Perambur, Purasawalkam, Kilpauk Medical College (KMC), Anna Flyover, LUZ, Adyar, Thiruvamiyur, Perungudi, Karappakam, Sholinganallur, and Navallur, said a metro rail official.
The feasibility report has identified the 19.3 km stretch between Madhavaram to Adyar as underground stretch while 20.9km stretch between Adyar to Siruseri would be elevated . One of the constraints for the elevated portion is that the crossing of Buckingham Canal in Lattice bridge might require land acquisition.
Similarly, Corridor-4 starts from Light house and runs up to Nerkundram for a length of 14 Km. It connects important places like LUZ, Nandanam, Vadapalani and Koyambedu. The corridor could be extended to Sriperumbudur after 2035 based on the growth trend. This corridor has 14 km of underground alignment.
Corridor-5 is an orbital one from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur for a length of 34.7 km. It connects Villivakkam, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Nerkundram, Ramapuram, OTA and Medavakkam. This corridor has 14 km of elevated alignment and 20.7 km of underground alignment.