Chennai Metro Rail phase 2: Alwarthirunagar to Porur stretch to feature pillars holding 5 trains at once

CHENNAI: Phase 2 of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) will introduce a pillar design capable of holding and servicing up to five metro trains simultaneously, a first in the world, according to a Maalaimalar report.

This phase will include three new metro corridors, bringing the total number of corridors to five.

The two existing corridors, from MGR Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount and Wimco Nagar to the Airport, will be joined by three new ones in the 2nd phase.

The third corridor will run from Madhavaram to Sipcot (Siruseri), the fourth corridor will extend from Poonamallee to Light House, and the fifth corridor will connect Madhavaram to Sholinganallur.

Due to engineering considerations and project costs, corridors 4 and 5 will share five stations: Alwarthirunagar, Valasaravakkam, Karambakkam, Alapakkam, and Porur.

For the elevated stretch between Alwarthirunagar and Porur, a single pillar will support four trains at the same time, two from Corridor 4 and two from Corridor 5, running in both directions. Passengers will be able to access either corridor through lifts and escalators.

In this section, the first level will be the concourse, while the second and third levels will serve corridors 4 and 5, respectively.

Arjunan, the project director for Phase 2 of CMRL, also explained the need for a fifth line in the third level, a loop line between Valasaravakkam and Karambakkam.

This line will help move trains between the second and third tiers for maintenance work or allow trains to travel to and from depots.