The elevated stretch of Chennai Metro Rail between Koyambedu and St Thomas Mount is likely to be ready by October-November once the passenger facilities are in place at the station, a senior Metro Rail official said.
This comes in the wake of work being restarted in the 10 elevated stations after Chennai Metro Rail awarded a `385-crore contract to four construction companies.
Work came to a standstill after the contract to Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited was terminated due to the delay in construction of railway stations on the elevated stretch. The official said that landscaping and other minor work will be carried out simultaneously once the elevated stretch is opened.
He said that in the next five to six months most of the important work would be completed and the elevated stretch would be ready for inspection by the commissioner of metro rail safety to get clearance for operating rail services on the stretch. “Only after the clearance will the elevated stretch be opened to the public,” he said.
The contract for pending work in Koyambedu, CMBT and Arumbakkam was awarded to Tiruchitambalam Projects Limited(TPL) while work on other stations was awarded to Saraswati Construction company, Nagarjuna Construction company and URC Constructions.
“We have given them 10 months to finish the work,” the senior official said.
Commuters on the stretch between Saidapet and Kathipara can heave a sigh of relief as the laying of the viaduct or the concrete on the elevated stretch will be completed by July-August. After this the stations and tracks will be readied. “Once the laying of the concrete structure in the elevated stretch is complete, the barricades are likely to be removed, easing the flow of traffic,” the official said. The elevated stretch linking the airport to Alandur will take another year to complete. A third metro train of four coaches has arrived at Koyambedu depot. With this Chennai Metro Rail now has 10 trains.
