Chennaites can watch Metro rail chug on elevated stretch by month end

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Chennaites are likely to relish the sight of Metro Rail chugging on the elevated stretch from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar by the end of this month.

A Metro rail spokesman told Express that the trial run of the metro rail that was imported from Brazil is expected to take place by this month if all the systems are in place.

“We are trying our best to get it rolling this month although some minor track works are still pending,” the metro rail spokesman said.

The first metro rail imported from Brazil had undergone the test run at the Koyambedu yard two months ago when Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flagged it on November 6.

Meanwhile, the work on the elevated stretch is progressing smoothly and the entire stretch, excluding the stretch between Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) and Chennai airport,  is expected to be completed by the middle of this year, metro rail sources said.

Tender has been awarded to a firm to build the airport station while another tender for laying the viaduct between OTA and Chennai Airport has been opened last week. The nearly six km stretch has been delayed with the termination of the contract of Lanco Infratech Limited due to delay in execution of work.

Meanwhile, the biggest challenge for Metro Rail would be to lay the viaduct over the Guindy railway station and utmost care would be taken in this regard, said a senior metro rail official. He said while laying the viaduct, the trains which may be plying to and from Guindy may be required to go slow. “This is a big challenge but we will complete it successfully like we did it in the Kathipara junction,” he said.

Interestingly, the underground stretch is expected to be completed by the end of 2015 or likely to be extended to 2016. Nearly 35 to 40 per cent of the work on the  underground stretch has been completed, the official said.