Chennai: Construction of the last mile link of Velachery -Adambakkam – St Thomas Mount 5km stretch on the MRTS extension line is at its most challenging phaseinstalling a viaduct over the Chennai Beach – Tambaram railway line to connect it to the St Thomas Mount metro rail station.
With revised deadline of December 2022 fast approaching, railways is firming up plans to install viaduct over the railway line in the coming months without creating much hindrance to the suburban and express trains services on the southern line from the city. It’s a busy line on which 240 suburban services are operated per day in addition to mail and express services.
The original deadline of July 2022 had to be revised to the end of the year because a 655 sq m portion of land needs to be acquired and is getting delayed because of the legal heir issue of the owners.
The pillars are ready till the railway line. The houses that were acquired, most of them two-storey buildings that stood adjacent to the railway line, have been pulled down in preparation of the installing the viaduct.
Around 65% of the foundation has been completed since the land was taken over in March 2021, said Southern Railway chief public relations officer B Guganesan.
The Velachery-St Thomas Mount 5km stretch of MRTS, which has stations at Puzhuthivakkam, Adambakkam and St Thomas Mount, will link the line to the two metro rail corridors providing people from the south an easy access to areas in the heart of the city. The line and stations are ready till Adambakkam. It will benefit residents of Madipakkam, Adambakkam, Thillai Ganga Nagar and other nearby areas. Commuters will be able to travel seamlessly from Chennai Beach via Mylapore, Velachery and St Thomas Mount to Koyambedu, airport and other parts of the city. They will be able to switch to suburban trains and mail and express trains.
The cost escalated from 494.74 crore to 734.01 crore because the design of the alignment was changed from single pillars to two pillars with a horizontal column each and due to building MRTS portion at St Thomas Mount metro station, said Guganesan.