Connectivity needed between Metro Rail’s phase I and II stations Premium

Chennai Metro Rail Limited's phase II project to open in phases, starting with 10-km Poonamallee to Porur stretch.

By the end of next year, commuters may get the first glimpse of one stretch of the 116-km phase II project that Chennai Metro Rail Limited has been building for the past few years. Similar to the phase I network wherein stretches were launched one after another over a period of time, the phase II network will also be opened in phases.

Though all the three corridors of the project — Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4), and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5) — are being constructed, the first stretch to become operational will be the 10-km line from Poonamallee to Porur (a part of corridor 4). The stations which are constructed in this line include Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee, Mullaithottam, Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Kattupakkam, Iyyapanthangal, Thelliagaram, Porur Bypass, and Porur Junction.

Commuters may be eager to travel on driverless trains and through compact stations of the phase II network. But the first stretch of the phase II network to be opened — Poonamallee to Porur — does not have any connectivity to the phase I network, leaving commuters wondering how they will benefit from it.

The original plan was to launch a longer stretch, from Poonamallee to Power House at Kodambakkam through Vadapalani. If this is implemented, there is a station, at Vadapalani, in the phase I as well as phase II networks, and it will allow commuters to switch lines to travel to various locations.

CMRL officials say they are continuing their efforts to operate the stretch from Poonamallee to Power House through Porur and Vadapalani. But, sources say, it is very unlikely to have the Porur-Power House stretch ready by the end of 2025, and it could take six more months.

If the Poonamallee-Porur line is opened initially, the foremost thing that CMRL must do is to plan for shuttle services to the phase I network stations and also to neighbouring locations to ensure that a wider section of people uses Metro Rail, say commuters.

R. Muralikrishnan, a frequent Metro Rail commuter, says, “There should be share-autos or tempo travellers operating between stations like Vadapalani and Ashok Nagar (of phase I) to the Porur station (of phase II). This will allow the commuters to travel easily to Porur to catch a train. If they don’t implement this link, people from the central areas of the city cannot use this network.”