CMRL to prioritise Airport-Kilambakkam, Poonamallee-Parandur projects

CMRL prioritizes Airport-Kilambakkam and Poonamallee-Parandur Metro Rail projects, awaiting approvals from Highways Department and NHAI.

Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) will be taking up the Airport-Kilambakkam and Poonamallee-Parandur projects on priority.

The 15.3-km Airport-Kilambakkam Metro Rail project has been delayed. According to CMRL officials, a detailed project report (DPR) for the project was submitted two years ago but they were asked to revise the report three months ago. The reports for both projects are almost ready, but CMRL has to meet the Highways Department and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to get their concurrence for certain aspects of the plans. After this, the DPRs will be sent to the State government.

“There was a high-level meeting held recently, where all metro rail projects planned for Tamil Nadu were discussed. Based on this, authorities from the Centre and State agreed that residents of south Chennai face intense traffic congestion, and commuters needed better access to the Kilambakkam Bus Terminus. Similarly, the State government is focusing on the Parandur Second Airport Project simultaneously. The authorities acknowledged that having a mass rapid transit link is important. We will submit the DPR for both projects to the State government very soon,” an official said.

The reason why the DPR for the Airport-Kilambakkam project had to be modified was, there was a plan to build an elevated corridor along the stretch some years ago. But there were no developments after that, and CMRL went ahead and submitted the report. A few months go, CMRL was again asked to redo the design so that its viaduct and the elevated corridor would have common pillars.

The elevated corridor, to be built by the State Highways Department, will run from the Airport to Tambaram. Sources in the department said the suggestion was to construct it on the first level and operate the metro train on the second. Discussions regarding integrating the flyovers in Tambaram, Pallavaram, and Perungalathur with the metro rail are also under way. 

An official source from the NHAI said their concurrence might be unnecessary since the construction was not happening on land owned by it. “The proposal seems to run along the side of Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road. A station will be constructed at Vandalur,” another source said.

CMRL needs to consult the Highways Department and the NHAI for the 43.63-km Poonamallee-Parandur project as well, since the latter plans to construct an elevated corridor from Poonamallee to Sriperumbudur. The designs of this corridor will be integrated with those of the CMRL.