CHENNAI:
St Thomas Mount
station is set to become the city’s biggest multimodal hub after MGR Central when
metro rail’s phase-2 metro rail corridors open. It is here that commuters can switch between two metro rail lines, an MRTS line and suburban network and travel to the core areas and far suburbs.
The 47km phase two line of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) from Madhavaram to
Sholinganallur
via St Thomas Mount, where stoppages for a few incoming express trains could be considered, is expected to be ready in three years.
CMRL and railways are planning a double decker corridor with MRTS on the first deck and phase-2 line on the second deck near St Thomas Mount station. The elevated metro line from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur via Alandur will snake into the existing metro station adjacent to St Thomas Mount suburban railway station and while exiting turn left to soar 27 metres over the railway line to reach Adambakkam and on to Sholinganallur.
A CMRL official said the 460-metre double decker line, being built by MRTS, between St Thomas Mount and Adambakkam crosses the suburban railway tracks. The two lines will have a common/alternative pier or pillar arrangement as the alignment is the same. This will minimise land acquisition and cut costs. “We will not construct a new station at St Thomas Mount for phase-2,” the official said.
Southern Railway chief public relations officer
B Guganesan
said “MRTS and CMRL viaducts will be made of steel girders with concrete slab when the line crosses the tracks. Piers will be built on either side and the steel girders will be hoisted and installed using a crane.” Concrete slabs will be cast over the steel girders. Tracks will be laid on it. Suburban trains will have to be regulated for the work for five days at a stretch. Tracks have already been barricaded.
St Thomas Mount will become an interchange point for commuters from suburbs like
Madipakkam
, Perumbakkam and OMR, to be linked in phase-2, to reach areas like Velachery and Kotturpuram that are connected by MRTS. Later, when the planned TambaramKilambakkam metro line comes up, MRTS passengers can easily access localities beyond the airport like Tambaram, Vandalur and Kilambakkam.
R Ramanathan, former railway and CMRL official, said plans were made for long distance trains to stop at St Thomas Mount suburban station for passengers to switch to metro, MRTS or suburban. “The plan was to allot a oneminute stop for long distance trains. We had planned it like Mambalam and decided to add crossover or turnouts in the suburban station to facilitate the stoppage,” he said. With the phase-2 line coming up, stopping of long distance trains is required more than ever.