Chennai: CMRL phase-2 finds spot on Budget – Times of India

CHENNAI: The city’s phase-2 metrorail project, construction for which is set to begin later this year, got a shot in the arm after the Centre announced it will cough up its share for the project during the Union budget on Monday. Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) sources said this was the first such announcement for phase-2. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her third budget speech, also announced deploying two new technologies MetroLite and MetroNeo in tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of tier-1 cities.
“Central counterpart funding will be provided to Chennai metro railway phase-2 of 118.9km planned at a cost of Rs 63,246 crore,” Sitharaman said in her speech, besides mentioning a few other metrorail projects in the country that will receive Centre funding. The cost of phase-2 project was reduced from Rs 89,000 crore to Rs 61,843 crore after CMRL made a number of cost cutting measures including scrapping the plan to construct a depot at SIPCOT.

The finance minister said a total of 702km of conventional metro is operational in the country and another 1,016km of metro and RRTS is under construction in 27 cities. “Two new technologies — ‘MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ — will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with the same experience, convenience and safety in tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of tier-1 cities,” she said. CMRL in February 2020 began feasibility study for a 15-km MetroLite line between Tambaram and Velachery. Officials said Systra MVA Consulting was roped in for the study.
Construction of the 118.9-km phase-2 was launched by Union home minister Amit Shah in November 2020. During the launch, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami requested Shah to intervene for early approval and Centre’s participation in the project with 50:50 equity sharing model.
Nearly 13 construction tenders have so far been floated for the project besides a tender for procurement of driverless trains. Construction for a part of the 118.9km phase-2 from Power House in Kodambakkam to Poonamallee is likely to be taken up first later this year. The three-corridor phase, expected to be ready by 2026, will link far flung localities such as Madhavaram, Sholinganallur, SIPCOT and Poonamallee with the city’s core areas. The project will also link IT hubs in OMR and Porur as well as localities poorly linked by public transport. There will also be 26 interchange stations where commuters can seamlessly switch between different modes of transport including metrorail, suburban and MRTS trains, and MTC buses.