The long wait for Metro trains by residents of Madipakkam and surrounding areas has finally bore fruit as the entire neighbourhood is going to be connected via Metro trains following two major developments recently.
One was the official release of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd’s (CMRL) phase two map featuring all the localities from the neighbourhood and second was the announcement of feasibility report preparation by Southern Railway for the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and CMRL merger, again, featuring the neighbourhood localities.
When CMRL’s phase one project came into picture, the residents of Alandur, Nanganallur and St Thomas Mount got immensely benefitted. But, those residing at Medavakkam Main Road starting from Vanuvampet to Nanmangalam were left astray.
“Today, to catch a train, we either have to go all the way to Velacheri or St Thomas Mount. Needless to say about the last mile connectivity offered by buses. The important S11 small bus services were halted last year claiming poor patronage,” said a Moovarasampet resident P Dhamodharan.
But, CMRL has now released the official map of phase two project featuring almost all the localities here. Officials said the neighbourhood line comes under corridor five of phase two and will run from Vanuvampet to Kovilambakkam before making a turn towards Vellakal.
Also, it has been learnt that there will be six Metro stations in the neighbourhood – Vanuvampet, Puzhuthivakkam, Madipakkam Koot Road, Keelkattalai, Echangadu and Kovilambakkam, which will be elevated above Medavakkam Main Road. Alandur and Sholinganallur Metro stations will act as interchange stations, officials added.
Ullagaram resident Chandrababu, said, “This will be a welcome addition to the neighbourhood which is reeling under poor connectivity by road and rail. Add to that are the poor condition of the roads which lead to using personal vehicles, risky. The extension work of Medavakkam Main Road has made matters even worse as large pits have been dug without any further progress. If Metro services come here, it will be a great boon for us.”
This aside, with the Southern Railways getting the green signal for completion of MRTS second line between Velacheri and St Thomas Mount following all the disputes related to land acquisition solved, it has now started preparing the feasibility report for the merger of MRTS and CMRL which will lead to Metro trains running on the MRTS line. Officials said they are in the process of assessing hurdles and the report will be submitted before Ministry of Railways and Urban Development soon.
“If the MRTS line too becomes functional, we can easily take a train from Puzhuthivakkam to Velacheri from where we can access the entire coastal localities of Chennai from Madhavaram till Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) in addition to the access from Sholinganallur. Secondly, taking a train from Vanuvampet to St Thomas Mount, we can access the entire western localities of Chennai via Alandur. Hope the project gets completed soon,” said Sabari Salai resident V Jai Ganesh.