Chennai Metro Rail completes nearly 70% of station work between Poonamallee and Porur

The Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II project gathers steam as nearly 70 percent of the station construction work between Poonamallee and Porur has been completed.

The Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II project gathers steam as nearly 70 percent of the station construction work between Poonamallee and Porur has been completed.

The phase II project work commenced in November 2020. Being built at an estimated cost of ₹63,246 crore, metro rail commuters are awaiting the phase II project, which proposes to provide smooth mobility in the dense areas of the city.

The 118.9-km phase II project designed with three corridors — Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4), and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5) — will open in various stages. Passengers will first get to commute between Poonamallee and Porur (a stretch in corridor 4), and this 9-km stretch has been scheduled for launch in December this year.

According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), while over 90 percent of the viaduct work has been completed, nearly 70 percent of the station work is done so far between Poonamallee and Porur.

“A majority of the civil work is over. We should be able to finish the remaining work in another 4-5 months. The installation of various systems has begun. Lifts and escalators have arrived for the stations and the contractors will begin fixing them shortly. Similarly, the track and overhead equipment work is underway in the viaduct. The only challenge and delays we are facing are at Karayanchavadi and Kumananchavadi stations, but we are trying to speed up the work,” an official said.

When compared to the phase I project, the Chennai Metro Rail has implemented quite a few changes in the phase II project, with respect to the size of the station and its construction. The station size was scaled down to minimise land acquisition and the length of the station was downsized from 230 metres to 140 metres. Similarly, while the phase I stations were built with four entry/exit points, in the phase II project, they have been decreased to two.

“Another important feature is, in the construction of the viaduct, we used precast structures as much as possible. This will help us to quickly carry out the construction work. From pier caps, U girders, I girders to cantilever pier arms, in several aspects, precast structures were used,” the official said.