21.9.16

Chennai Metro gets going


Chief minister J Jayalalithaa will inaugurate two elevated metro rail lines ­ a nine-kilometre line from Little Mount to the airport and a less than one kilometre line from Alandur to St Thomas Mount ­ on Wednesday . With this, the entire 21 km elevated section of the 45 km phase-one of metro rail will become operational.
The nine-kilometre line will give commuters from far-flung localities like Koyambedu, Ashok Nagar and Ekattuthangal access to the airport. Metro rail may operate direct services from Koyambedu to the airport for these commuters. Four stations will connect Little Mount to the airport -Guindy , Alandur, Nanganallur Road and Meenambakkam.
St Thomas Mount metro station, which was planned for inauguration in October, will also be opened. However, it is not clear if trains will run up to that station.
A senior metro rail official said that they would operate services as per the current schedule where trains would run from 6 am to 10 pm with a frequency of every 10 minutes. “Depending on the patronage, we will decide whether or not to make changes in the schedule. But night time is allotted for train maintenance, which is a very important element in operating the service,“ the official said.
Nevertheless, the elevated line will give commuters access to suburban services at Guindy . Passengers can alight at Guindy and walk to the Guindy suburban station to head anywhere between Beach and Chengalpet station.


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