Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has appointed two consultants — Consulting Engineers Group CEG-AECOM consortium and Systra, a France-headquartered company — to carry out the detailed design work for Phase II.
According to CMRL officials, the companies have been entrusted with preparing the detailed design for the two major corridors in Phase II — Madhavaram to CMBT and Madhavaram to Shollinganallur via Purasawalkam and Mylapore — that will be constructed first.
In July, the CEG-AECOM consortium was awarded the underground section of Madhavaram Milk Colony-Thousand Lights-Taramani Road and elevated section of Nehru Nagar to Sholinganallur section, said sources. AECOM was a consultant and worked on the preliminary design of Hyderabad Metro, they added.
Systra, which prepared the design for the Metro Phase I expansion from Washermenpet to Tirvottiyur, has been chosen for the CMBT route, sources said. The design reports will carry the exact location of each station, streets and roads Metro Rail will pass through and the land needed for the construction. The Phase II project will be built at a cost of ₹80,000 crore and will cover 108 km of the city in three corridors. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide a large sum as loan and the State will fund about 25-30% of the project, CMRL officials say. “Once the design part is over, the construction can start in full swing. Meanwhile, we are hoping to get the first instalment from JICA,” an official said.
Land acquisition
In the meantime, the Chennai Metro Rail has started sending notices to residents to acquire land for Phase II, for which they plan to take over about 800 properties.
Soil tests have been on in several locations of the city to find out the geological conditions before building stations and the underground tunnel.