With the opening of the metro line from Little Mount to Airport, Chennai will now have around 19 km of metro operational out of the total 45 km of Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase 1.
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Naidu said floods and issues involving contractors had delayed the Phase I of the Metro Rail Project.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today inaugurated metro rail service (through video conference) from Chennai Airport to Little Mount in the presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan. All the coaches are running fully in the first service of Chennai Metro from Airport to Little mount, the Maximum fare of Chennai Metro increased to Rs 50 and made a history of Chennai Metro Costliest in the country.
“Like the residents of the city, I look forward to the commencement of operations on the underground section of the Metro Rail which I am confident will be before the end of 2016”, she said as she opened Rail Corridor 1.
The first 10.15km section of elevated metro from Koyambedu to Alandur was inaugurated by the CM back in June 2015. The trains will become air-conditioned and hence, the ticket prices of MRTS will be on a par withChennai Metro Rail tickets, he said. Also, the passengers who will come from Chennai Airport will also need to change at Alandur.
She said it is a matter of huge satisfaction to her that the preparation of the detailed feasibility study for the Chennai Metro Rail Project commenced when she was holding the office of Chief Minister in 2003 and nearly the entire physical work on the Metro Rail corridors in Chennai have been carried out since the time she assumed office in May, 2011.
Of the total project cost 59 per cent will be JBIC’s loan, while 30 per cent equity will be shared by Centre and state Governments equally.
Thanking the Japanese government for its support to the development programmes in Tamil Nadu, she hoped that the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will continue its support for the Metro Rail project extension, desalination project near here and the Ring Road project.
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She congratulated all those associated with the project, “who have brought a modern mass transit system to the city of Chennai”.
