[Pics] Chennai Metro’s First Underground Section Nearing Completion

Hat tip to reader Aniruddh for sharing this development.

On October 8, the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. took an entourage of media personnel on a tour of the 22 km Green Line’s upcoming Koyambedu – Shenoy Nagar underground section. The tour began from the operational Koyambedu station and made stops at the Thirumangalam and Shenoy Nagar stations including one of the many emergency cross-passages built at intervals of 250-300m between the line’s two tunnels.

This 5 km section is a part of package UAA-05 and was built by the Afcons – Transtonnelstroy JV which achieved its final TBM breakthrough in December 2014. Trial runs on this section were launched between the Thirumangalam Ramp and Anna Nagar East station in April 2016, then extended east to Shenoy Nagar in July and further east to the Nehru Park station in early October.

Alignment of the Koyambedu – Shenoy Nagar section – view Chennai Metro map & information

Videos:

Images:

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Thirumangalam station – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Platform Screen Doors – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Shenoy Nagar station’s platform level – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Shenoy Nagar station’s concourse – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Scissors crossover at Shenoy Nagar – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

Cross Passage – Photo Copyright: Dinakaran

The CMRL is hoping to wrap up all works and commission the 7 km Koyambedu – Nehru Park section in one go by March 2017, but looking at this section’s progress and the fact that the Shenoy Nagar – Nehru Park section’s progress is a little further behind, I’m expecting commercial operations to start a little later, sometime in Q2 (April-June) 2017.

For more updates, check out the Chennai section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG