Battery car services at Chennai metro soon
Posted on: 07/Feb/2019 2:20:36 PM
While the last leg of the first phase of Chennai metro rail services is likely to be inaugurated by this weekend, the CMRL has now initiated shuttle services to aid senior citizens at the central metro. This will be of help in crossing about half kilometer distance at the long station. There are similar shuttles available at the airport. Likewise, at the entry points, there are battery cars functional for the elderly commuters. This takes them till the AFC (automatic fare collection) gates.
From the side along Ripon Building, this is present at 500n distance to reach the AFC gates. As of now, just 1 car is being functional. Based on the requirement, more of such cars will be deployed, say officials. Commuters as well as non-commuters will be able to access the path through the station entry point until AFC gates. This way is notably non-paid area.
Phase-1 fully operational by Sunday
On Sunday, the final stretch of phase-1 of Chennai Metro Rail connecting Washermenpet and AG-DMS will be inaugurated. With that the 45km stretch of CMRL which is an underground transit hub will be operational for the public.
This being a 3-deck station is the deepest in India. It is at 30m depth. Its length is 400m and width is 35m. Single portion of ticketing level is kept open for the public as of now. Since May 2018, the upper track that gets connected with Poonamallee High Road has got operational. The lower track which will soon get operational shall get linked with Anna Salai.
A lot of commuters find the distance too tough to be crossed. They rush to the platform for buying tickets. The sole option to reach the concourse level is through battery car. When there is more footfall, functioning of more than one will get challenging, say officials.
Amidst this, the battery car shuttle service at the Chennai airport is ceased as walkalators were installed at the Chennai airport recently. Upon changing the traffic pattern last month, the airport authorities started finding it tough to operate the battery cars, because they were against the traffic that comes in.
