Metro Rail launch will be delayed
Posted on: 30/Dec/2013 9:50:53 AM
Metro Rail services between Koyambedu-St Thomas Mount line was supposed to begin from July 2014. Now the line is likely to be opened only in October.
Sources said contracts to construct the stations with Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (CCCL) are on the verge of falling apart as the company failed to meet the deadline — a serious setback for Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, which intended the first corridor to be the project’s showpiece.
CCCL should have completed the elevated viaducts and stations in the corridor this month so trials could begin early January, according to the original plan. The transit system can be opened to the public only after three months of intensive trials because, unlike suburban trains, the metro rakes will be automated and work on pre-set information.
CCCL was in 2010 and 2011 awarded contracts for Rs 300 crore to design and build elevated metro stations in Koyambedu at CMBT, Arumbakkam, Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar, Sidco, Alandur and St Thomas Mount, but the work by the firm has ground to a crawl.Only a handful of workers remain at the St Thomas Mount station site and they appear to have little to do. At some sites, CCCL is three months behind schedule
.
The company has also won contracts for elevated stations in Guindy, Little Mount and Officers Training Academy, but it has more time to complete work there.CCCL has completed structural work in Koyambedu, CMBT, Vadapalani, Arumbakkam and Ashok Nagar and has started interior work. But it is a long way from completing the basic structure for the stations at Sidco, Alandur and St Thomas Mount though it bagged the contracts over two years ago.
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