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Metro rail for Chennai?

By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai Aug. 21. Will Chennai have a metro rail on the lines of the Delhi metro? A proposal for Chennai metro appears taking shape with a team of Delhi Metro officials making a presentation to the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, here today.

At the nearly one-hour meeting, the team, headed by the Managing Director, E. Sreedharan, highlighted the Delhi metro and suggested the contours of a possible Chennai Metro rail network. The Chief Minister is believed to have evinced a keen interest in the project proposal, spending much more time than what was originally scheduled for the presentation.

After the interaction with the Chief Minister, the team briefed officials and senior Ministers as well. The project, which is likely to cost about Rs. 5,500 crores, will have to be launched as a joint venture, said a highly-placed source in the Government.

As for the already-existing Metropolitan Rapid Transit System, State officials argue that it is widely perceived to be a flop and, in contrast, a rail network on the lines of the Delhi Metro is seen as commercially viable. The Delhi team pointed out that while the Chennai MRTS was still largely underutilised and loss-making, the metro in the national capital had started breaking even on "operational costs", though it was not operating to "expected capacity levels".

Southern Railway officials pointed to the problems in implementing urban projects and said another Metro network would involve underground, surface and elevated structure works for years on end. "Of course, the Metro is more sleek and air-conditioned, but both project costs and fares will be correspondingly higher too," a railway official noted. He said it was up to the State Government to decide on the desirability of another metro project and then finalise its alignment before seeking a joint venture with the Railways.

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