Metro rail set to ease Anna Salai traffic mess

Chennai: The arterial Anna Salai will start breathing easy in a couple of months with the opening of underground metro stations below Anna Salai by the end of this month.

Thiru. Vi. Ka Road (formerly General Patters Road) would be made two-way soon after the metro stations open and this would also ease congestion in Nandanam and Saidapet.

The Commissioner of Metro Railways Safety, K.A. Manoharan along with his team inspected the stretch from Little Mount (Saidapet Ramp) to AG-DMS on the up line and down line on Saturday.

Earlier this week, the commissioner completed inspection from Shenoy Nagar to Central Metro. He said the authorisation to open the line would be given in a week.

The commissioner looked into the facilities in trains and its operation, underground tunnels, station infrastructure to check commuter safety. Aspects like tunnel ventilation, fire prevention and disaster management measures were also looked into.

Chennai metro, currently witnessing a patronage of 34,000 commuters daily, expects it to rise to one lakh once the operations from Chennai central commence. In the peak hours, the frequency of trains between Central to airport would be five minutes.

This would provide a major respite to the commuters from Egmore as trains from various parts of Tamil Nadu depart from the station and also the Egmore bus terminus facilitates inter-state commutation. The Egmore suburban railway station attracts nearly one lakh commuters everyday.