Chennai Metro on a shopping spree to make travel hassle-free – Times of India

CHENNAI: In about five years from now, passengers would be able to zip from OMR to CMBT in Koyambedu in around 90 minutes, as the 119km phase-2 metro rail network, with longer lines, smaller stations and advanced driverless trains, becomes a reality.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has rolled out an exhaustive list of items it will need for the three-corridor phase that will connect far-flung areas in the city and suburbs. From needles, ballpoint pens, grease cans, fake note detectors to 138 three-car trains, signalling and telecom systems for 119km, CMRL has drawn a comprehensive plan on its requirement. The detailed project report (DPR) expects the three corridors to be ready by 2025-26.

A CMRL official said the five-year procurement projections were put out on the website with an idea to shop from Indian companies. “The five-year plan was following an instruction from the ministry to encourage ‘make in India’. Our procurement projections will help Indian firms plan their business and expand accordingly if required so they can work with us by participating in the bids when we float,” he said.
Procurement of items like trains and smartcards will be based on the distance covered by metro trains and the passengers likely to use them. The DPR projects about 19.2 lakh people to use metro trains daily in the phase-2 corridor by 2025 and 43.5 lakh by 2055. CMRL has already designed sleeker underground stations, stations hanging from more than 27metres, multi-storey properties and driverless trains. It is also tweaking contracts to build the 119km network faster than the 45km phase-1 which took nearly 10 years.
“Such infrastructure projects are designed for the future, say the next 100 years. In Chennai, where MTC buses, suburban rail and MRTS services cater to 80% of users, you cannot expect people to immediately shift to metro rail especially when the rate is high. But it will slowly change, something we saw in Delhi and Bangalore metro rails and even in Chennai with MRTS,” said R Ramanathan, former director of CMRL who is now with Nagpur metro.
Preliminary paperwork is on and construction tenders for a major portion floated. On-ground work is expected to start next year. “Phase-2 is a big project and there are many packages which we were finalising during the lockdown. There’s a lot of process that requires scrutinising. We never stopped any work during the lockdown. Hopefully we will start work early next year,” said CMRL managing director Pradeep Yadav had said in an earlier press meet.
V Somasundaram, former chief general manager (construction), CMRL, said “It is better to reconfirm the financing of the project from the various international banks, agencies as well as from the state and Centre, at a time when the global economy is affected due to the pandemic.”
When phase-1 is attracting only 1.16 lakh commuters daily against a projected 7.76 lakh, Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman, manager (transport system), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said, “A fare rationalisation coupled with cheaper and reliable last mile connectivity can significantly boost the ridership of the metro in Chennai.”