Chennai Metro Rail Limited has commenced the expansion of the Chennai city’s metro rail network as part of Phase II following the successful completion of the Phase I and Phase I Extension Corridors in stages since June 2015 and the growing ridership in Corridors 1&2.
CMRL has now ventured into an extensive infrastructure upgrade in the city comprising three more metro corridors for a total length of 118.9km – being funded by several multi-national funding agencies including the JICA, ADB, AIIB & NDB.
Corridor 5 begins at the Madhavaram Milk colony and connects through Koyambedu, Porur, Alandur and other residential/commercial development to Shollinganallur for a total length of 47km with five underground stations and 39 elevated stations.
Four TBMs, each named after distinct Tamil landscapes (Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham, and Neithal), will be deployed for Corridor 5. TBM Kurinji, the first to be launched on 19th February 2025, will bore a 246m tunnel from Kolathur Ramp towards Kolathur Station (upline) and is expected to complete in June 2025. It will then be retrieved and relaunched from the south shaft to tunnel towards Srinivasa Nagar, a further 1.06km.
The second TBM, Mullai, is expected to arrive by the end of March 2025 and will begin tunnelling adjacent to Villivakkam Railway Station towards Villivakkam Bus Terminus for a length of 603m. The remaining two TBMs will be launched based on site readiness.
The 7.8km underground tunnel section with twin tunnels of 3.9km each on Corridor 5, including the five underground stations from Kolathur Ramp to Nathamuni Ramp are being executed through M/s.Tata Projects limited.
Comments: