Chennai Metro Rail’s track laying work between Porur and Poonamallee to start in October

As Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II construction work gains pace between Poonamallee and Porur, laying of track is set to begin by the end of next month

As Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II construction work gains pace between Poonamallee and Porur, laying of track is set to begin by the end of next month. The preparatory work for laying track along this 10-km stretch will start next week.

The ₹61,843-crore phase II project’s construction was started in 2021. Once completed, will reach 116 km of the city in three corridors — Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3 – 45.4 km), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4 – 26.1 km) and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5 – 44.6 km). Poonamallee-Porur will be the first stretch in the phase II project which will be commissioned by the the end of 2025 or early 2026.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL), Poonamallee-Porur would be an elevated stretch and a substantial portion of the viaduct work had been finished. The rails to be laid for this stretch are made in India and have arrived in the city already. “We will start loading the rails over the viaduct by next week. In the coming few weeks, the preparatory work will continue and the process of laying of track will start by the end of October. About 20 km of track (upward line and downward line) will have to be laid and it will take about six months to finish this work,” an official said.

Although there was a plan to start track work in July, it has been delayed and it is set to begin next month. Officials said there were a few challenges in executing the track work as well. “In a few locations, there are gaps in the viaduct for the station work as the land was handed over to the contractor recently. After this is finished, the track work will be taken up in these parts as well,” he added.