Velachery-St Thomas Mount MRTS line to start ops tomorrow

Chennai: The long-delayed Velachery–St Thomas Mount mass rapid transit system (MRTS) extension will be launched on Saturday. Commuters have been waiting 18 years for rail connectivity between St Thomas Mount and areas such as Thiruvanmiyur, Mylapore, Triplicane and Abhiramapuram.

Southern Railway on Thursday said the chief commissioner of railway safety (CCRS) gave a provisional authorisation certificate allowing the railways to operate trains on the 5km stretch. "We instructed the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to remove shuttering at an obligatory span, as observed by the CCRS, and CMRL sought 24 hours to comply with the observation," said an official.

All 43 pairs of trains operated up to Velachery from Chennai Beach will be extended up to St Thomas Mount, establishing the much-needed connectivity with the Tambaram–Chennai Beach suburban train stretch and the metro train station at St Thomas Mount. Also, the extension will create a new mode of connectivity to areas such as Mylapore, Triplicane and R A Puram from St Thomas Mount, for which boarding multiple MTC buses remained the only option so far.

Two pairs of services between Chennai Beach and Velachery, and three pairs of services between St Thomas Mount and Velachery, will also be introduced to ease congestion. "The timetable will be revised as the trains should cover an additional length of 5km and three stations. Depending upon the demand and patronage, additional rakes will be introduced if needed. Existing fare rules apply for the extension," added the official. The trains will be operated at the regular speed of 45kmph to 50kmph.

The long and chequered journey of the MRTS extension project up to St Thomas Mount started in 2008 and was halted several times due to litigation in land acquisition.