Shuttle services to connect Ullagaram and Adambakkam in Chennai
Posted on: 10/Sep/2020 9:21:10 AM
The southern Railway has decided to run shuttle services connecting Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam and Adambakkam railway stations by the year 2021. It is known that the land acquisition for MRTS expansion project that connects Velachery and St Thomas Mount railway stations is hanging in limbo.
Integration of MRTS with suburban and metro train services has been planned by the southern railways by extending tracks from Velachery to St Thomas Mount. The delay in the acquiring about 500m stretch of the land has made the southern railways to rework the strategy. It is known that railway stations have been constructed in Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam and Adambakkam.
Information is from January 2021, the southern railways are planning to operate shuttle train services to Velachery railway station. Works such as installation of ballastless tracks plus construction of railway stations and commissioning of signal systems etc have been 75% completed. This was as per a senior official.
At the Velachery railway station on the Adambakkam side, a crossover facility has been provided for the sake of operating trains on either track. It is worth mentioning that signalling work for providing trains to cross to other tracks has been executed by constructing a new relay room. Commissioning was done on 5th September.
From Velachery to St Thomas Mount MRTS Extension Phase-2 project, railways had sanctioned an amount of Rs 489 crores. For completing the work till Adambakkam in 2020, an amount of Rs 40 crores has been allotted.
It was later revealed by Mr. Rama Rao, office bearer of the Traffic and Transport Forum that the regular commuters would still have to depend on the Velachery station from where the trains are being operated to Chennai Beach.
He spoke about the importance of linking MRTS train services with other multi-modal transport options already available at St Thomas Mount. The fact is the commuters would have to wait for a few more years for this.
