Phase 2: Metro Rail to use MRTS space to reduce land acquisition

According to the detailed project report, the proposed corridor-5 will follow the alignment of existing Metro’s corridor-2 from Alandur to Inner Ring Road via St Thomas Mount.

From the Mount station, the corridor-5 will follow the alignment of the proposed MRTS line between St Thomas Mount and Adambakkam as a double elevated line in this section. “It is proposed that substructure for MRTS and elevated corridor-5 in this section may be constructed together with common/alternative pier arrangement to minimise the land acquisition,”the DPR said.

The MRTS stretch between Adambakkam and St Thomas Mount remains incomplete for over a decade following court cases filed by the residents against the land acquisition. In January, Madras High Court dismissed the pleas challenging the land acquisition against MRTS line connecting Adambakkam with the Mountsuburban station.

The proposal to have a common pier arrangement for a stretch of about 500 meters was mooted to avoid the court cases over the land acquisition. “CMRL and MRTS are planning to go for common pier of approximately 11 piers as a portal arrangement with different levels to avoid land acquisition,” said a senior CMRL official.

The official, however, said that the sharing arrangement would be finalised only after working out a detailed design and talks with the railways. “The common pier arrangement was proposed for a small stretch of about 500 meters,” the official said, adding that the Metro line would be ‘double elevated’ to accommodate the MRTS line.

Already, at St. Thomas Mount, an integrated station is built to cater to the needs of both CMRL in the phase-1 and MRTS. It is an elevated station with MRTS platforms and tracks at the first higher level and CMRL’s platform and tracks at the second higher level.