CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has removed six metro stations from phase-2 of its project, which is expected to save nearly 1,200 crore. The stations, including Doveton Junction, Foreshore Estate, Natesan Park, Meenakshi College, and Thapal Petti, were all either underground or elevated and situated less than 750m from the next stop. One of the reasons for removing the stations, as stated by CMRL spokesperson L Girirajan, was their close proximity to the nearest stations. Another reason was that the proposed station at Thapal Petti would have had a sharp curve that could be challenging to maintain.
The proposed phase-2 of Chennai Metro Rail is 118.9km long with 128 stations, including 48 underground stations, and is expected to be completed by 2026. Metro stations are generally planned every 1km for easy access and emergency evacuation. The stations that have been removed are on the 45.8km Madhavaram Milk Colony-Siruseri Sipcot corridor-3 and the 26.1km Lighthouse-Poonamallee Bypass corridor-4.
Changes were made by CMRL to decrease the project cost from 89,000 crore to 61,843 crore, which included the substitution of the maintenance depot originally proposed for Siruseri SIPCOT with stabling lines for train parking. Additionally, it has converted some stations from being underground to elevated and decreased the size of the stations by 25% in comparison to phase-1 stations. Sources say that similar emergency structures to the shaft built inside May Day Park at Chintadripet may be built in place of the removed stations.
