After a long delay, Chennai Metro Rail to begin tunnelling at Kolathur
The Hindu
Chennai Metro Rail begins tunnel construction between Kolathur and Villivakkam, part of phase II project, improving connectivity.
Chennai Metro Rail will launch work to create a tunnel between Kolathur and Villivakkam as part of the ongoing phase II project construction within two weeks.
In the ₹63,246 crore phase II project with three corridors — Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4) and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5) — tunnelling has been on in full swing in both corridor 3 and corridor 4. But in corridor 5, the only underground stretch is between Kolathur and Villivakkam and it has suffered a delay of more than a year.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they will begin the tunnelling work at Kolathur this month and the tunnel boring machine (TBM) named ‘Kurinji’ has already been lowered at the site.
The corridor 5 starts as an elevated stretch from Madhavaram up to Retteri, dips at Kolathur Junction and turns into an underground network till Villivakkam MTH Road. Beyond this, it proceeds all the way till Sholinganallur via Porur and Madipakkam as an elevated stretch again.
The five-kilometre underground stretch in corridor 5 has stations at Kolathur Junction, Srinivasa Nagar, Villivakkam Metro, Villivakkam Bus Terminus and Villivakkam MTH Road. When CMRL completes work in a couple of years, those residing in Kolathur and Villivakkam may find it easier to travel to areas in the south like Mylapore, Adyar and OMR. Villivakkam residents will find it particularly convenient as three stations have been proposed in the area.
“The preparatory work is underway for the launch. The total distance between Kolathur and Nathamuni is nearly 5 km but, as is always done, the tunnelling will be carried out in short stretches. First, the TBM will be lowered at a shaft created in Kolathur and bore towards the Kolathur Metro Rail station, a distance of 500 metres. Subsequently, it will be relaunched from the Kolathur station in about four months and it will drill towards Srinivasa Nagar,” an official said.
The tunnelling may not be very difficult between Kolathur and Srinivasa Nagar as the soil strata is mostly clayey with a few parts in Srinivasa Nagar having rock.
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