Stalin, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurate Metro Rail HQ in Chennai

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin, along with Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, inaugurated on Friday the headquarters building of Chennai Metro Rail, which has been built at a cost of Rs 320 crore on 8.96 acres of land provided by the State government on arterial Anna Salai.

The 12 storey headquarters with a basement and ground floor is a modern structure constructed by strictly adhering to latest environmental norms, making optimum use of natural light and least electricity requirement both for lighting and air conditioning, an official press release said.

Besides serving as the administrative office of Metro Rail, the new building near the Nandanam station would also be a shadow facility of the Operational Control Centre in Koyambedu, from where the organization is now being administered.

The Metro Rail project, for which the official permission was granted by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 2007 and the initial work was launched by the then Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin in 2009, was envisaged with a view to ease the traffic on roads and offer an alternative mode of comfortable public transport to the people.

While the two corridors in Phase 1, including the extension, running a total distance of 54.1 km, are fully operational now, work has begun on Phase 2 that would have three corridors covering a total distance of 119.9 km.

In another few years, the Metro Rail network would cover a total distance of 173 km running through five corridors in the city.