CHENNAI: As Chennai Metro Rail has started work on the second phase, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said that the stretch Kodambakkam to Poonamallee stretch (under Corridor-4) will be put into operation by June 2024.
Metro Rail Project Phase II will span 118.9 km from the northern end to the southern end of the city with three corridors — Madhavaram to SIPCOT, Madhavaram to Sholinganallur and Light House to Poonamallee.
The Corridor-4 stretch was from CMBT to the Light House. But it has been extended till Poonamallee considering the increasing traffic congestion on Arcot Road along Virugambakkam and Valasaravakkam.
It will go via Vadapalani, up to Poonamallee via Porur. The stretch will have 12 underground stations from Light House to Meenakshi College which is funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and 18 elevated stations from Meenakshi College to Poonamallee. It is funded by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Recently, Chennai Metro Rail has extended Corridor 4 from Poonamallee Bypass to Thirumazhisai Satellite Township. Poonamallee is also expected to be one of the five depots of Chennai Metro.
The Finance Minister also said that work on the 16km first phase extension from Chennai Airport to Kilambakkam where the new bus terminus is coming will start soon. This comes after Chief Minister MK Stalin urged Chennai Metro Rail Limited to soon take up the Chennai Airport-Kilambakkam project which will have 13 stations. It will be built entirely on GST Road as an elevated stretch,
Thiagarajan also announced that he will be urging the Union government to reconsider the shareholding under the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project with a pattern of 50:50 between state and Centre as was done in Phase-I project. The Rs.61,843 crore Phase-II of Chennai Metro has been approved by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Government of India has suggested providing only 10% cost as a grant instead of providing 15% as share capital.