By Ashley Karen
Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), the nodal authority for the implementation of transportation projects in the city, confirmed the proposed 15.3 km metro line linking Chennai Airport with Kilambakkam.
A high-powered committee of the agency has also advised to fast-track the project delivered that the under-construction Kilambakkam Bus Terminus is possibly to be authorized early next year.
Given that the project has been confirmed by the nodal agency, the state government approving the project is likely to be a formality. When the formal nod is secured from the M.K Stalin-led DMK government, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) needs to pursue the Centre’s permission and work out the funding model.
As per the completed project DPR, the construction of the new metro line is evaluated to cost Rs 4080 crore. CMRCL also needs to finish the land acquisition and then float the tender for the project. Given the series of steps concerned, the actual project work is probably to begin by mid-2024.
In July, the project removed a significant hurdle with CMRL and the state highways department settling the design problems associated with the project.
The program by the state Highways Department to construct an elevated corridor till Tambaram threw a spanner in the works for the suggested blue line of Chennai Metro. However, both agencies have now reached an agreement over which level of the viaduct of Metro Rail should be constructed and the height of the elevated metro corridor. The construction work on the project is said to begin in April 2023.
The project has faced a significant delay in taking off because of the design challenges to meet both the requirements of metro and elevated corridors.
Project Details
The Chennai Airport-Kilambakkam blue line is an extension of the current operational Corridor 1 (Washermenpet to Chennai Airport) covered by Phase-I of the Chennai metro. It will be constructed as an elevated stretch along the GST road.
As reported, the Airport-Kilambakkam metro line will grant a significant enhancement to the connectivity of newly emerging suburbs in the southern outskirt of the city. A new bus terminus is now under construction in Kilambakkam.
The feasibility report for Airport- the Kilambakkam line was finished in 2019 by Larsen and Toubro Infrastructure Engineering. The preparation of the DPR (Detailed Project Report) faced some delays after CMRL proposed the DPR to the state government in early 2022.
As part of the feasibility study, three alignments were considered: a 16 km stretch along GST road, a 19km stretch from GST Road (Grand Southern Trunk Road) to Tambaram and Mudichur Road, and a 20 km stretch that passes from Airport-Cantonment-Pallavaram Bus Stand GST Road through Hastinapuram and Tambaram West, Mudichur Road to Kilambakkam.
Nevertheless, the CMRL has completed the GST alignment. Since the presented alignment runs parallel to the suburban train service from Beach to Tambaram, some considerations were declared that it would affect the Metro’s ridership. But CMRL chose to go for alignment along GST as it would be fully an elevated corridor and needs less land acquisition than the other two options.
The Airport-Kilambakkam project is 15.3 km and is estimated to cost ₹4,080 crores. It will run via significant locations in the southern suburbs with 13 stations planned at Pallavaram, Kothandam Nagar, Chromepet, Mahalakshmi Colony, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Tambaram, Irumbuliyur, Peerkankaranai, Perungalathur, Vandalur, Arignar Anna Zoo and Kilambakkam Bus Terminus.
Upcoming CMDA Bus Terminus in Kilambakkam
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is building a bus terminus at an evaluated cost of ₹394 crores in Kilambakkam to relieve the congestion of Koyambedu. Also, the southbound buses will begin from here. With the completion of more than 90% of the work on the project, CMDA is expecting to commence the terminal by early next year.
Once operational, the new station will serve approximately 1.5 lakh passengers with a parking space for 250 buses, 270 cars and 3,500 two-wheelers. After project completion, all buses to the southern districts would depart from Kilambakkam.
