Chennai Metro may be flagged off in next few days

Fare will be in the range of Rs 10 to around Rs 30-40

Chennai Metro Rail is all set to commence operations in the next few days. Officials are hopeful this will increase usage of public transportation 'substantially' and will reduce the commuters time.

Last week Parliamentary Affairs and Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Chennai that first phase of project is ready and that once the electoral code of conduct is over, it will be inaugurated. He was referring to R K Puram by-election, in which Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa is contesting, which is scheduled for June 27.

According to earlier reports, initial plans were that the first stretch of 10 kilometres will be opened by December, 2013, which was delayed due to various reasons.'

On Monday, authorities have showcased the Operations Control Centre, installed by Siemens. This nerve centre will be controlling the entire rail movement, including speed of the trains, while the driver's role would be to start the train and to open and close the doors of the coaches.

Human intervention will be very less, unless there is an emergency, said Chennai Metro officials.

While the total length of the Phase I of the project is 45 kms, Washermenpet to Airport 23.1 kms and Chennai Central to St.Thomas Mount 22 kms, initially nine trains will be deployed for operations from Koyambedu to Alandur covering a distance of 10 kms. Each train can carry 1,276 passengers, including 176 sitting and 1,100 standing. Minimum fare will be in the range of Rs 10 to around Rs 30-40.

The project is expected to reduce commuting time by 75 per cent from one end of the city to another. Currently the average bus speed in the city is around 17-18 kms per hour and this is expected to come down further to 12 kms per hour, on the other side average speed of the Metro train will be around 35 kmph.

Take for instance, from Koyambedu it will take 17 minutes to reach St Thomas Mount, a distance of 10.1 km, with the train stopping at each station for 30 seconds, while by road it would take around 30-45 minutes depending upon the traffic conditions. There will be six stations in the Metro line between Koyambedu and St Thomas Mount.

Work in the 27-hectare Koyambedu depot is completed and it is controlled by a separate centre -- Depot Control Centre. For the first time in India, the depot has ballast-less (small gravels) track.

The depot has a total track length of 14,314 metres. There are 12 stabling lines or storage lines. Each line is 300 metre long, and can accommodate 36 trains of four cars and 24 trains of six cars. In future, space is available to construct one more stabling shed to accommodate 45 trains of four cars or 30 trains of six cars with 15 additional lines, he said.

The first few coaches manufactured by Alstom were imported from the company's plant in Brazil. Subsequently, the coaches were manufactured at Sri City Andhra Pradesh. In the first lot, a total of 42 trains will be supplied to the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL). Of this, 25 train sets have so far arrived at the CMRL depot.

Phase II of the project

It was estimated, the phase II of Chennai Metro Rail Project would cost around Rs 36,000 crore. The Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) has zeroed in three corridors for the phase II development, according to senior official from CMRL.

Already a presentation was made to the Government for the phase II, which will run for around 60 kms with three co-corridors. The entire stretch in the Phase II would be underground.

Facts about Chennai Metro

Total corridor length 45 kms including Washermenpet to Airport 23.1 km and Chennai Central to St.Thomas Mount 22 kms. Originally it was estimated project cost would be around Rs 14,600 crore, but now increased to around Rs 20,000 crore