CHENNAI: The merger of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) with Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) will happen in two stages and will be coordinated by the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), said special officer of CUMTA I Jeyakumar.
In the first stage, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will undertake commercial development of all 18 MRTS stations and the surrounding 500-metre radius while Indian Railways will handle operation and maintenance. The next stage will involve a complete takeover of MRTS by CMRL, Jeyakumar told TNIE.
This comes after Southern Railway gave in-principle approval to hand over MRTS to Chennai Metro during a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Irai Anbu on May 11.“We will develop the stations and areas around them, as well as office spaces and business centres,” said Jeyakumar. “Most of these stations are in remote locations. We wanted to improve the environment. An MoU was drafted and is with the housing and urban development department,” he added.
“Once we get the in-principle clearance, CMDA and the State government will sign an MoU with Indian Railways,” he said, adding CUMTA is conducting a study on the real estate potential and facilities at all MRTS stations. “We will map everything and come out with a detailed project report,” he said.It is learnt that CMDA will go for an open tender for commercial development of all stations. This will take about
24 months.
A blueprint was prepared 18 years ago to develop commercial space over nine MRTS stations, but the plan remained only on paper, as per documents available with TNIE.