The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Inspection of Velachery MRTS section today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Inspection of Velachery MRTS section today

R. Srikanth and S.Vydhianathan

Velachery station has lift, public convenience, big platforms… yet approach road is a matter of concern

— Photo: N. Sridharan

GREEN SIGNAL: Work apace on the Velachery MRTS station, raising hopes of an early launch of the service from Tiruvanmiyur.

CHENNAI: Preliminary safety inspection of the Tiruvanmiyur-Velachery section of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) will be carried out on Thursday by Commissioner of Railway Safety (Southern Circle) K.J. S. Naidu.

The announcement is bound to hearten the residents of south Chennai, who are looking forward to the extension of the MRTS services up to Velachery. The hectic pace, at which other components of the project moved in the recent weeks, has already raised their hopes of getting a transport link that promises to be faster and comfortable.

Mr. Naidu, along with Chief Administrative Officer R. Ramanathan, will take a tower wagon from the Chennai Beach station during the safety inspection. As the Chennai Beach-Tiruvanmiyur section had already been given safety clearance, the CRS would conduct a detailed study of the elevated tracks laid between Tiruvanmiyur and Velachery.

According to Mr. Ramanathan, the CRS, if necessary, would make suggestions for improving the safety features, which would be incorporated. In the event of no major changes required, the CRS would issue the safety clearance paving the way for the launch of the services.

It is against this backdrop that work is apace at the Velachery railway station, including painting of the walls, testing of the signals and levelling of the ground. Residents of Velachery and nearby localities such as Madipakkam, Ullagaram-Puzhithivakkam, Pallikaranai etc. eagerly await the launch of the MRTS services since most of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses that they use for commuting to the heart of the city are overcrowded.

The implementation of the MRTS services up to Velachery has been marked by delay for various reasons. The Chennai Beach-Tiruvanmiyur section project was implemented in two stages — the first stage was up to Tirumylai.

Reasons for delay

One of the major reasons cited for the delay in implementation of the project upto Velachery was the loose soil condition. The increase in the cost of crucial raw materials led to an escalation in the cost of the project.

At present, the MRTS facility remains underutilised in view of the limited train services from Chennai Beach to Tiruvanmiyur. The services from Tirumylai to Tiruvanmiyur are operated on a single track.

The Velachery Railway Station, massive in size, has several facilities such as lift, public convenience and big platforms for the commuters. While the facilities available at the three railway stations beyond Tiruvanmiyur — Velachery, Perungudi and Taramani — seem to be good, the approach roads to the station remain a matter of concern.

Needed: approach road

The Velachery Railway Station lacks proper approach road and the Southern Railway is yet to black-top the kuccha road. A good approach road is also required for the Perungudi station, residents of the localities point out.

Federation of Velachery Residents Welfare Associations secretary S. Kumararaja said when the MRTS services up to Velachery started, the interior roads of Velachery linking the Perungudi station are bound to see heavy traffic movement. But the Government does not seem to have a plan to establish a link road to the Perungudi station.

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