By September month, Chennai metro rail tunnel connecting Light House to Thirumayilai will be completed!!
It is now said that the Chennai metro rail tunnel connecting LightHouse and Thirumayilai would be completed by the month of September. It is known that the planning has been going on for several years.
Point to be noted is that the underground link that is an important part of phase 2 network would become a vital link for the commuters. In another 3 years, driverless metro trains would be operated through the tunnel. As a result, there would be a more easier route from Thirumayilai and Kutchery Road to Marina Beach.
Creation of massive transit network:
Information collected is that the project spanning 118.9km would create a massive transit network with corridor 4 running from Light House to Poonamallee of 26.1km. What is sensational would be the fact that nearly 10km of this stretch would run underground. The route would cover heavily populated city zones from Light house to Kodambakkam through Thirumayilai and T. Nagar.
Flamingo and Eagle, the 2 tunnel boring machines are being used to carry out the milestone project. It must be recalled that Flamingo began its 1.96km journey from Light House in September 2023 thru Kutchery Road towards Thirumayilai. The other tunnel boring machine Eagle was responsible for creating a parallel tunnel.
It is learnt that now Flamingo is tunnelling through Kutchery Road station and is expected to reach Thirumayilai in another 5 months. Soon, Eagle would enter the Kutchery Road. The technical glitches have been responsible for temporary stoppages in the journey of the Flamingo boring machine. It must not be forgotten that in the beginning the abrasive soil created huge issues for Flamingo and it resulted in replacement of parts frequently.
Engineers spent nearly 40 days repairing the Flamingo machine when there was an important problem in the cutter head of this machine. With all these technical glitches etc, Flamingo has drilled 1.3kms of terrain till now and Eagle has drilled 1.2kms. The presence of complex soil grades between Light House and Thirumayilai stretch would not be a hurdle and the progress has been steady. Soon, the tunnel will be completed.
