Metro stations in the air by December

Chennai:

Chennai Metro Rail’s eight stations in the elevated stretch is expected to be completed by December end, according to Chennai Metro Rail General Manager (construction) V Somasundaram .

Somasundaram told Express that the work in the elevated stretch is progressing smoothly and nearly 500 metres of test track work is completed. The remaining 300 metres of test track is expected to be laid in the next two weeks before the first train arrives in the Rs 198 crore state-of-the-art depot by next month.

Interestingly, the depot will also get power from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board by June 15 which will also pave the way for the trial run of metro rail in the next three months. The first train, which consists of four coaches, is expected to arrive in the depot, spread over an area of 26 hectares of land, by June by when the required infrastructure for the berthing of trains will be ready.

Although, the laying of the bridge or viaduct in the elevated stretch is 95 per cent complete and metro rail officials are gearing up to finish the challenge of connecting the link from Kathipara to St Thomas Mount. “This will be the biggest challenge and will take time. Once we reach till Alandur, then the work be be finished in no time. We expect it to be over by October,” said Somasundaram, the brain behind the construction of the metro rail project. The signaling work is also expected to start by July-August onwards and would be completed by December.

Interestingly, the work on the eight stations in the elevated stretch is nearly over. Except the finishing works all the other works, including testing, is expected to be completed by September or October. The finishing work will take time and will go on till December, he added.