The day is finally here. The second stretch of Chennai Metro Rail, connecting Little Mount and Chennai airport, will be open to the public on Wednesday with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa will inaugurate it at 11.30 a.m. through video conferencing. Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport, and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan will also participate. Sources said Mr. Naidu will also be taking a ride in the Metro Rail from Little Mount to Chennai airport.
The opening of the second stretch comes more than a year after the first service was launched from Koyambedu to Alandur. The second stretch covers 8.6 km with six stations — Little Mount, Guindy, Alandur, Nanganallur Road, Meenambakkam and Chennai airport. Alandur station will be a junction with two levels linking the stretches — Koyambedu to Alandur (upper level) and Little Mount to Chennai airport (lower level). Commuters from Koyambedu travelling to Chennai airport will have to change trains at Alandur. Commuters from Little Mount or Chennai airport travelling to Koyambedu will have to switch trains too. Sources said the fare for travel from Koyambedu to Chennai airport, a distance of about 15 km, will be Rs. 50.
Currently, the fares range between Rs. 10 and 40 and for special class, from Rs. 20-80. St. Thomas Mount station too will be inaugurated on Wednesday along with the second stretch, but sources said it is yet to receive the mandatory approval from Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS). “We want to finish the inauguration together. Once CMRS approval is obtained, the station will be open to the public in a few days,” an official said.
K. Chandramouli, a resident of Mogappair, who travels to the airport every day for work said he had been waiting for the second stretch to open. “I have already been using the Metro to travel from Koyambedu to Alandur for the last one year. I leave my vehicle at Koyambedu and travel till Alandur and take a bus to the airport but now, I can easily travel all the way up to the airport," he said.
Hari Ramamoorthy of Nanganallur said. “I often land in a late-night flight and pay a huge amount for a cab. Now, the Metro station is only minutes away from my residence. I can easily take it," he said.
