Decks Cleared For 15 km Metro Line Between Chennai Airport And Kilambakkam Bus Terminus As CMRL, Highway Department Resolve Issues

The proposed 15.3 km metro line connecting Chennai Airport and Kilambakkam is likely to go ahead with the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) and the state highways department resolving the design issues related to the project, The Hindu reported.

The plan by state Highways department to build an elevated corridor till Tambaram threw a spanner in the works for the proposed blue line of Chennai Metro. However both the agencies have now reached an agreement over which level the viaduct of Metro Rail should be built and the height of the elevated metro corridor. The construction work on the project is likely to commence by April 2023.

The project has faced considerable delay in taking off due to the design challenges to meet both the requirements of metro and elevated corridors.

The Chennai Airport-Kilambakkam blue line is an extension of the already operational Corridor 1 (Washermenpet to Chennai Airport) under the Phase-I of Chennai metro. It will be built as an elevated stretch along GST road.

The Airport-Kilambakkam metro line will provide a major boost to connectivity to newly emerging suburbs in the southern periphery of the city. A new bus terminus is currently under construction in Kilambakkam.

The feasibility report for Airport- Kilambakkam line was completed in 2019 by Larsen and Toubro Infrastructure Engineering. The preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) was delayed with CMRL submitting the DPR to the state government in early 2022.

As part of the feasibility study, three alignments were considered - a 16 km stretch along GST road, 19km stretch from GST Road (Grand Southern Trunk Road) till Tambaram and Mudichur Road and 20 km stretch that passes from Airport-Cantonment-Pallavaram Bus Stand GST Road via Hastinapuram and Tambaram West, Mudichur Road to Kilambakkam,

The CMRL, however, has finalised the GST alignment Since the proposed alignment runs parallel to the suburban train service from Beach to Tambaram, concerns were expressed that it would impact the Metro’s ridership. But CMRL decided to go for alignment along GST as it would be fully an elevated corridor and requires less land acquisition than others two options.

The 15.3-km Airport-Kilambakkam project is estimated to cost ₹4,080 crore, will run through important locations in the southern suburbs with 13 station planned at Pallavaram, Kothandam Nagar, Chromepet, Mahalakshmi Colony, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Tambaram, Irumbuliyur, Peerkankaranai, Perungalathur, Vandalur, Arignar Anna Zoo and Kilambakkam Bus Terminus.

Upcoming CMDA Bus Terminus In Kilambakkam

The Airport-Kilambakkam metro line will provide a major boost to connectivity to newly emerging suburbs in the southern periphery of the city.The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is constructing at bus terminus at an estimate cost of ₹394 crore in Kilambakkam, in a bid to decongest Koyambedu. The south-bound buses will start from here. With over 80% of the work on the project completed, the CMDA is hoping to inaugurate the terminal by end of the year.

The new terminus, once completed, is expected to cater to about 1.5 lakh passengers with a parking space for 250 buses, 270 cars and 3,500 two-wheelers. After project completion, all buses to the southern districts would depart from Kilambakkam.