Chennai next to Delhi in getting metro to airport

Chennai: Come September, you can hop onto a metro to reach Chennai airport from Little Mount or Koyambedu. The Chennai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (CMRL) is gearing up to inaugurate the crucial line that will allow the southern metropolis to join an elite club of cities in the country that have metro connectivity to the airport.

Once metro rail chugs into the Kamaraj domestic and Anna international airport, Chennai will only be the second city after New Delhi to have connectivity to airport from the heart of the city. Though New Delhi has the fastest airport metro line that covers 24 km in 18 minutes, the Chennai metro rail that connects the airport with the city will run at an average speed of 45 km per hour.

The 9-km elevated line from Little Mount to Chennai international airport is almost complete with construction work on the stations progressing at jet speed and the commissioner of metro rail safety is expected to carry out his mandatory inspection in July-end or early August for his nod. Once the CMRS gives the approval, CMRL can start operations on the line anytime. Also, those travelling from Koyambedu will be able to travel to airport without having to change train with the CMRL planning to have a loop-like facility that will allow trains to run from Alandur to airport by just changing tracks.

Once the two lines come into operation, it would bring a paradigm shift in the way Chennai travels. The airport station is a five-level terminal spread over 17,300 sq. metres that would provide seamless movement of commuters from metro rail to the airport. The station has been constructed in such a way that it connects both the domestic and international terminals that were thrown open to the public a couple of years back.

Commuters would be able to keep their luggage in trolleys at the metro station and take them to the airport terminal without having to worry about carrying their huge baggage.

Metro services to the airport would be in addition to suburban train and bus services that are already available for fliers. Fliers can even check-in their baggage at the Chennai Central metro station once it becomes operational, like the facility that is available for those opting for the New Delhi-Airport Express in the capital.

Commuters can have a truly international experience of reaching the airport through a metro without having to hop onto different trains. Most cities abroad have connectivity to the airport through metro services.

Once the services from Little Mount to Washermanpet begin, people from the northern tip of Chennai can reach the airport in around 65 minutes, which now takes nearly two hours. The Koyambedu-St Thomas Mount section, which is now operational from Koyambedu to Alandur, is also ready and is likely to be thrown open to the public around the same time as the airport metro.