Chennai's Central Square in the making

The brick-red gothic style building, Chennai Central railway station, may be the iconic landmark of the city but it is synonymous with chaotic traffic, pollution, honking motorists and people mindlessly crossing the road.
Cut to 2018. Passengers are seated in two large oval-shaped glass buildings at the plaza opposite Central Station, sipping a hot cuppa, as they enjoy a 360° view of the city. Passengers walk in and out the station through subways; some of them take the MTC buses that arrive and depart the Central Plaza. No honking, no abuses or traffic pileups -life in the heart of the city is less of a frenzy .
The ambitious plan for the Rs.400-crore Central Square by Chennai Metro Rail Limited was proposed last year and now the initial design is ready. It will be a seamless transit hub connecting the outstation trains, MRTS, suburban services, metro rail and buses. And much of the vast network will be underground. The project, slated for completion by March 2018, will have several features including underground parking lots, landscaping, walkways, spacious bus bays and a museum. At present, work has begun for construction of two subways that connect Central Railway Station, Park Station and the bridge opposite the station. Metro Rail has floated tenders for a detailed design and construction on a consultancy-basis. “The idea of the Central Square is to ensure safety of pedestrians by directing them towards underground subways and ease traffic on the arterial Poonamallee High Road,“ a metro rail official said.
The showpiece of the project will be Central Plaza, where commuters can take an MTC bus and head towards Koyambedu or just step down one level below the subway to take the metro to either reach Koyembedu or south Chennai. The plaza, which will be a bus terminal and have dedicated bays for outstation and MTC buses will also help ease traffic congestion. “Much of the traffic pile-up is due to the buses parked on the road side. With the plaza, we can take the entire bus traffic off the road,“ the official said.
Apart from a transportation hub it will also draw tourists who can take a walk by the British-era buildings like Victoria Hall and Ripon Buildings, sit on a bench amid greenery and enjoy the old world charm of the area. A walk down the subway towards the plaza on the other side will also lead to a small museum that is likely to come up in the erstwhile choultry , which was retained during demolition for metro rail construction. Beneath all the traffic and the colonial structures will be a modernised transport network spanning 70,000 sqm accommodating the Central Metro Station, a parking lot and twin-tunnels with four tracks connecting two corridors at a depth of about 30 m.