OMR commuters have to wait longer for Metro Rail service

The IT Corridor line, which falls in corridor 3, will start operating only after three years. Since it is home to some big companies and a huge population, Chennai Metro Rail Limited should have opened this line first in Phase II, say Old Mahabalipuram Road residents

R. Nandhini, a resident of Anna Nagar, spends an hour commuting every day to her office at Perungudi. “If I get late and caught in the peak-hour traffic, I spend close to two hours on the road. Had a Metro Rail train been running to the the Old Mahabalipuram Road now, my commute time would have halved,” she says.

Other commuters say they find it difficult to travel through the Old Mahabalipuram Road, the Information Technology Corridor, because of traffic congestion, the poor condition of service roads, and the diminished road space.

Unlike Phase I of the Metro Rail project, which runs only 45 km and Phase I extension that covers 9 km, the 118.9-km Phase II covers most locations in the city. But since the project is expansive, Chennai Metro Rail Limited will begin operations in different corridors one stretch after another. Poonamallee-Porur will be the first stretch to operate by the end of next year.

The IT Corridor, which falls in corridor 3 (Taramani-SIPCOT), will start operating only after three years, if the contractors meet the deadlines.

Six-lane carriageway

In 2008, the IT Corridor began to take shape, and the six-lane carriageway of Rajiv Gandhi Salai was opened. The stretch spans 45 km today. Since it is home to some of the big companies and a huge population, Chennai Metro Rail Limited should have considered opening the IT Corridor line first in Phase II, say residents of the Old Mahabalipuram Road.

K. Karthik, a resident of Sholinganallur, says Chennai Metro Rail Limited should have built a network along the IT Corridor in Phase I itself. “The Phase I network is running on roads which have great bus connectivity with better traffic management. Had the government created a Metro Rail network in the Old Mahabalipuram Road area in Phase I when the traffic situation was manageable, lakhs of people would have been benefited today,” he says.

At peak hours, all commuters, from school students to office-goers, spend a long time on roads as the congestion has increased in the last decade. “Had the authorities decided to build the IT Corridor stretch first at least in this phase, it would have helped a lot,” he adds.

Today, to reach the IT Corridor, several persons from the city travel to the nearest Metro Rail stations to skip the arterial roads at peak hours. “Many of my colleagues take the Metro Rail as far as Little Mount or Alandur and switch to a cab or an autorickshaw to reach the office. Had the authorities prioritised the IT Corridor at least in Phase II, thousands of commuters would have benefited,” Ms. Nandhini adds.

As soon as the Tamil Nadu government envisages a large-scale development of an area or a corridor, there should be simultaneous efforts to improve the public transport and start feeder services from nearby transit stations to facilitate seamless connectivity for commuters and working professionals, says Smritika Srinivasan, an urban planner.

The IT Corridor has a large population, but its infrastructure is far from satisfactory, be it pedestrian pathway or roads. “The Corridor itself is unsafe for people to walk as there is hardly any usable footpath. In countries like Singapore, the authorities create demarcation zones with clear signage in locations where construction is taken up. This helps people navigate and walk through a road safely,” she adds.

‘Monitor road quality’

Ms. Srinivasan says that as the service roads are in poor condition on the IT Corridor since the construction started, Chennai Metro Rail Limited needs to have a team for ensuring the quality of roads and to chalk out better traffic management plans. “Throughout the construction phase, the team must evaluate and monitor the quality of roads and take measures to ensure that they remain in good shape. Periodically evaluating the traffic and updating and effective implementation of the traffic management plans are also important,” she says.

While officials had earlier said the IT Corridor stretch could be opened by 2027, sources say it would be very tough to meet this deadline. “It is possible to complete the stretch from Taramani to Okkiyam Thoraipakkam. But the station construction is challenging at Sholinganallur, where corridor 3 and corridor 5 meet. So, it is likely to take longer,” a source says.

Published - November 26, 2024 11:01 pm IST