Metro Rail's Poonamallee to Porur stretch will have takers only if shuttle services are operated till Vadapalani
Every day, for the last four years, M Umashankar, a 57-year-old businessman in Karayanchavadi, has been witnessing the Poonamallee-Porur corridor Chennai Metro Rail's phase II take shape gradually.
'It has been quite fascinating to watch how they are building the Karayanchavadi station, step by step and that I'm excited that I'm going to be able to travel in this corridor shortly. But people can truly benefit from Chennai Metro Rail, only when this line is extended till Vadapalani. Until this connectivity is ready, regular shuttle services should be running between Porur and Vadapalani,' he said.
Chennai Metro Rail may open the 9.1 km stretch from Poonamallee to Porur (part of corridor 4-Light House to Poonamallee via T Nagar) in seven months. But residents of these areas and the neighbourhoods can gain from using this corridor only when they change lines and travel to the phase I network at Vadapalani.
Earlier, the plan was to launch a significant part of corridor 4 from Poonamallee to Kodambakkam via Vadapalani but the section from Porur to Kodambakkam is running behind deadline and delayed because of the construction of a double decker corridor along this stretch. Commuters and residents said only if shuttle vehicles - buses or share autos - are operated between Porur and Vadapalani, people will come forward to use the Poonamallee-Porur line initially.
Srinivasan Sridharan, a resident of Iyyapanthangal, said, there isn't a huge population which will travel just from Poonamallee till Porur. Chennai Metro Rail must schedule shuttle services according to the train timings and operate it till Vadapalani or Alandur.
'There are many from Iyyapanthangal and Poonamallee to Saidapet and Kilpauk metro stations for work. All these people will resort to using the Poonamallee-Porur corridor only if a frequent shuttle service is available. Also, more importantly, commuters should be able to use a single ticket for the entire journey such as the Singara Chennai card and it should be accepted in the shuttle service as well,' he added.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they expect that the patronage between Poonamallee to Porur will be less. 'We are trying to accelerate work between Porur to Vadapalani. Meanwhile, we are also contemplating some kind of a shuttle service up to Vadapalani till the [construction of the] second stretch (Porur to Kodambakkam) is completed,' he said.
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