After a protracted delay, the Chennai airport will finally have a travelator, connecting the two terminals and the Metro Rail station, and it will be operational by the end of the month. The work began only in November last year, nearly seven years after it was proposed.
At present, a part of the work to link the Metro Rail station with the domestic terminal is ready, officials said. “Now, the installation work is on to connect the domestic with the international terminal and should be complete in two weeks. After that, once the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel are deployed, this will be thrown open for use,” an official said. When it is ready, Metro Rail commuters have to reach the concourse level (the area where tickets are sold) that has a connecting pathway where the travelator is located; it will take them to the domestic or the international terminals on either side. The travelator connects the terminal at the mezzanine level (the level below entry gates of the terminal); passengers have to take a lift from this level to reach the entry gates of the terminals.
Inspection by officials
On Friday, a team of officials inspected the progress of work. This facility was originally a part of the ₹2,000-crore phase I modernisation project of the airport but it was later taken off the project plan for various reasons. Subsequently, it was revived during the plan for phase II modernisation at a cost of ₹40 crore — with ₹25 crore for civil work and ₹15 crore for installation of this facility. Sources said the cost would have been much lesser had the work been taken up in 2011 itself.
