 "Chennai Metro to start commercial ops by Oct")
The state administration said the project was progressing well, and would ensure faster clearance from the Centre for the Washermanpet to Thiruvottriyur corridor, besides taking up the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Phase II of the project.
The project
After the success of the Kolkata and Delhi Metro rail networks, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad decided to go for Metro. The Chennai Metro has been planned by E Sreedharan, erstwhile chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
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In 2007-08, Rs 50 crore was allocated from the state Budget to conduct a DPR, based on which the central government approved the project on January 28, 2009. A special purpose vehicle, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), was formed. Of the total cost, the central and state governments would contribute around 41 per cent. The balance would be met by a loan granted by Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA. So far, Rs 3,061 crore has been provided by the Tamil Nadu government as share capital and subordinate debt.
While a total of seven lines have been planned, currently two routes are under construction as part of Phase I, which will be 45.1-km long. The routes would be from Washermanpet to Airport (23.1 km) and from Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount (22 km). Around 55 per cent of the corridors in Phase-I are underground and the remaining corridors are elevated.
The two Metro lines run parallel to three well-serviced roads — Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road and Inner Ring Road. The main objective is to provide a convenient, modern and economical mode of public transport, which is properly integrated with other forms of public and private transport including buses, suburban trains and the Chennai MRTS. This would be the first Metro project in the country that would integrate other public transportation systems, said a senior CMRL official.
He added that the project was expected to reduce commuting time by 75 per cent from one end of the city to another. He noted the share of public transport in Chennai had reduced from 60 per cent in 1992 to 35-40 per cent. Ideally, he said, it had to be around 70 per cent.
Current status
First metro coach from Brazil arrived at Chennai in June 2013,and the first trial run was conducted on November 6, 2013. Another two more coaches arrived at Chennai two months ago. All the three are now stationed at Koyambedu Depot and going through various tests and trials.
CMRL officials said the tests/trials are satisfactory, systems are performing well. Last trial run, on January 30, was tested on the ramp section leading upto the elevated portion for a distance of 1.5 kms from the Koyambedu Depot. The four-coach train was driven from the depot to the ramp and back to the depot a few times as part of the trial run.
In total 42 train sets, with four cars each, will be operational by the Chennai Metro. Of these nine will be imported from Brazil, while the balance 33 will be manufactured at French multinational Alstom's plant at Sri City SEZ, 55 kms from Chennai.
So far five Trains have come from Brazil and two more are nearing completion of production and test activities and train 8 and 9 are under various stages of production at Brazil, according to CMRL.
Activities at SriCity are progressing as targeted. Production activities on train 10 completed, currently it is undergoing static type and routine tests. It will be transferred to CMRL depot after obtaining the clearance of GC/CMRL. Production of Train 11 is nearing completion. Testing activities on train 11 will commence anytime and Trainset 12 to 15 is under various stages of production.
gWith all these developments, first line of the Phase I is expected to commence by October 2014 and the second line by 2015 beginning,” said the official. Original target to commence first line was July, 2014.
Nearly 50% of the overall Metro Rail work has been completed. The elevated corridor is approaching the final stages of construction and a third of the work in the underground section is over. Signalling and electrical work is under progress on the elevated corridor.
Frequency of one train would be for every 2.30 minutes once footfalls reach six lakh passengers a day. CMRL projected passenger trips per day would reach 7.74 lakh in 2016 and 12.85 lakh in 2026.
Fare
The fare structure for metro rail trains is being worked out, said the official, adding that it will be competitive compared to Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the fares of the suburban rail.
Currently, MTC charges Rs 15 as minimum and a maximum of Rs 100 for AC buses and Rs 3 as minimum and Rs 14 as maximum for ordinary services.
Going by a rough calculation minimum cost would be Rs 8 for the first two kms and go upto Rs 11 for six kms and maximum of Rs 23 for journeys more than 27km.