Chennai: In what would be a good news to the residents of the city, the final segment of the Phase-I of Chennai Metro Rail, which runs for 9.5 km underground between Washermenpet and AG-DMS, will be inaugurated tomorrow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will jointly launch it via video conferencing from Tiruppur at 3.15 pm Sunday.
The inauguration of this stretch marks the completion of the Phase-I of project established at a cost of Rs 19,058 crore. This phase covers a total area of 45 kms with 32 stations. There are 19 underground conditioned stations, 13 elevated stations and platform screen doors for passenger safety.
The 9.5-km underground line between Washermenpet and AG-DMS has eight underground stations including Washermenpet, Mannadi, High Court, Central, Government Estate, LIC, Thousand Lights, and AG-DMS.
As of now, the stretches from AG-DMS to airport, Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount and Koyambedu to airport, totalling 35 km, are operational.
The 45-km network has been opened in a phased manner. The first one between Koyambedu to Alandur was opened in June 2015, the Little Mount to Chennai airport stretch opened in September 2016. Alandur to St. Thomas Mount commenced in October 2016.
Koyambedu to Nehru Park stretch was inaugurated in May 2017, Nehru Park to Chennai Central and Little Mount to AG-DMS was thrown open to public in May 2018.
Modi is set to visit Tirupur tomorrow to inaugurate a slew of government schemes, including laying the foundation for ESIC hospital. He will also launch work on Pamban Railway Bridge Project. Modi is also set to attend a slew of public meetings as part of Lok Sabha election campaign.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Housing And Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Minister for Fisheries D Jayakumar and Minister for Industries M C Sampath will be present for the inauguration ceremony.