Travelling from places like Madhavaram, Poonamallee and Sholinganallur etc to airport and railway stations in Chennai will become very easy!!
Posted on: 04/Oct/2022 10:07:52 AM
The residents belonging to localities like Madhavaram, Poonamalle and Sholinganallur could feel delighted now!!
It is now revealed that in the future traveling from the above said localities to airport or railway stations etc would be very easy. The CMRL or Chennai Metro Rail Limited is constructing interchange stations by linking phase-1 and phase-2 at 14 locations to help the passengers to easily switch between the corridors.
Information collected is that tehnew stations would come up adjacent to the current ones and the passengers would be able to use tunnels, subways, skywalks and foot over bridges or FOB to go from one station to another. It is learnt that the passengers walking into the station or stepping out of the trains would be directed to the right platform by route maps and totem poles etc. Various signages, digital displays and audio announcements would also be there to help the commuters.
At the Madhavaram Milk Colony, Thirumayilai, Sholinganallur, Nandanam, Alwar Thirunagar, Valsarawakkam, Karambakkam, Alapakkam junction and Porur Junction in Chennai, interchange stations would be coming up. Two phase-2 lines would be linked. It must be taken into note that at Koyambedu, Alandur, St Thomas Mount, KMC, Vadapalani etc, stations in phase-1 and phase-2 would be linked for the people from far away places like Poonamallee and Madhavaram to reach Chennai Central, Egmore and airport etc.
In 5 to 8minutes, the public would be able to walk from one station to another by using skyways or passageways etc without the need to step out of the station. It was mentioned by a top officer belonging to CMRL that in critical interchanges 80% of the traffic would be from train to train.
He then spoke about how in the elevated interchange metro stations only the platforms would be built and it would be linked to the present metro stations concourse level. He shed light on how now many commuters exit at Alandur station itself as it is close to the St Thomas Mount station and the trains terminate here. The commuters would be able to continue their journey till Sholinganallur and Kilambakkam when phase 2 line comes. According to an officer from CMRL, 90% of the people would be moving from one train to another.
The phase-2 platforms located adjacent to the existing stations would be linked to the ticketing floor of the existing stations at Alandur and in St Thomas Mount. A skywalk has been planned by CMRL for easy switching of corridors by the public and this would be at stations like Vadapalani where phase-2 stations might not be present nearby.
As per Mr. R. Ramanathan, former director of CMRL, it was confirmed that the existing stations like Alandur etc have got enough space to handle the footfalls of both phase-1 as well as phase-2 lines. He explained that the passengers would not feel as if they are in 2 diffeferent stations. He concluded that the passengers would have enough time to switch corridors easily. There would be linking of parking lots with the stations through pathways, subways and foot over bridges etc.
