CHENNAI: The state government announced it would establish metro rail in Coimbatore and Madurai at a cost of Rs 17,500 crore. The government also said the first stretch of Chennai Metro’s elevated corridor from Poonamallee Depot to Kodambakkam Powerhouse section under the Phase II project will be opened by December 2025.
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said the metro rail in Coimbatore would be implemented along Avinashi Road and Sathyamangalam Road at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore. Similarly, in Madurai, it will be implemented at a cost of Rs 8,500 crore. The metro rail in Madurai will be constructed underground through the central parts of the town and will connect Thirumangalam to Othakadai.
After obtaining approval from the union government, both projects in the two cities will be implemented with funding from external agencies. Meanwhile, sources said a total of 139 kilometres of the Coimbatore Metro Rail Project will be taken up in three phases by the CMRL. The first phase will be built for a stretch of 44 km on the Avinashi Road until Karumathampatty and Sathyamangalam road until Valiampalayam Pirivu from Ukkadam.
The second phase and third phases of work will start after a detailed study and due approvals which will be done simultaneously. A further extension from the existing plan of 139 km and suggestions to include new areas will be taken for study. The proposed Metro will run parallel to the locations in which the flyovers are already built and the required land for the same will be acquired, said the official sources.
The Government of India announced metro rail projects for Tier II cities in 2011, including Coimbatore. Metroman E Sreedharan surveyed and announced Metro rail as a suitable transport for Coimbatore in 2013. The Coimbatore Metro project with 5 corridors is a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) proposed to be built in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
CMRL was appointed the Project Executing Agency (PEA) in 2017 and immediately invited bids for its feasibility study and Detailed Project Report (DPR) in 2 stages, funded by the German government through the KFW development bank.
The Madurai Metro Rail Project caters to a distance of 31km connecting Thirumangalam and Othakadai, which is the central part of Madurai city. RTI activist Pandiaraja said after a detailed project report is finalised for the Madurai Metro, the linking routes of the Metro station should be thoroughly checked.
3-phase construction
The project in Kovai will be taken up in three phases. The first phase will be on Avinashi Road until Karumathampatty and Sathyamangalam road until Valiampalayam Pirivu from Ukkadam
