CHENNAI: Southern Railway has announced that it will bear the operating costs of Chennai-Velachery MRTS for two years during the transfer of assets and operations to the state government and merger with Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
During this period, the railways will also provide the necessary coaches and handle maintenance at no charge.
“If the takeover is not completed within two years, SR may continue to operate the MRTS, but the TN government will be charged for operations and maintenance based on actual costs,” said an official railway statement on Tuesday.
As part of the transition plan, the train rakes (Electric Multiple Units) owned by the railways will be used in the MRTS for the two-year grace period. “After this, the EMUs will either be returned to SR or the TN government will pay their depreciated value,” the statement added.
During this transition, Southern Railway will support CMRL by training its personnel in operations and maintenance of infrastructure, rolling stock, and other functions. Current railway staff will continue to be deployed during this phase at no cost to the state government. Meanwhile, CMRL will also recruit and train its own staff and develop the necessary maintenance infrastructure.
Certain stretches of SR infrastructure-such as the yards at Fort and Chennai Beach-will continue to be used by MRTS in the future. Access terms and related charges will be decided by a joint committee comprising representatives from SR and the TN government.
The Railway Board approved the transfer of MRTS on July 31. The approval includes the transfer of all MRTS infrastructure assets — tracks, bridges, signaling systems, electrification, land, buildings, and more — as well as operations and maintenance responsibilities to the Tamil Nadu government/CMRL.
A detailed MoU is being prepared, said the railways. The statement noted that land owned by TN government and in use by MRTS will be returned, while railway-owned land in operational use by MRTS will be leased to the state government.