Difficult commute: It is always bumper-to- bumper traffic at peak hours on GST Road in Perungalathur. In the Airport-Kilamba- kkam network, a station has been planned at Perungalathur.
| Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj
Every day, Hemadarshini, 28, a resident of Perungalathur, spends nearly an hour to reach the Chennai Airport Metro Rail station from where she commutes to her workplace in Anna Nagar.
“My travel time would reduce by half if the Airport-Kilambakkam network becomes a reality because a station has been planned at Perungalathur. Life would become so much more comfortable for many like me,” she says.
Residents of the southern suburbs, especially those residing in areas south of Tambaram like Perungalathur, have been suffering during their daily commute in the absence of Metro Rail connectivity. While there are buses and suburban trains, they are not as punctual and convenient as Metro Rail, commuters say.
It has been nearly four years since the first detailed project report was done for the Airport-Kilambakkam stretch. As this 15.4-km network, which covers key suburbs including Tambaram and Perungalathur, has not been implemented, commuters feel let down.
Elevated road
The feasibility report for the Airport-Kilambakkam project was submitted in 2019, and in 2021, the Tamil Nadu government planned to start the work immediately since the detailed project report, too, was ready. But after the detailed project report was submitted, there were several rounds of high-level discussions to see if an elevated road should be constructed along this stretch.
As the discussion continued, the Kilambakkam Bus Terminus was inaugurated and the congestion increased substantially on this stretch. Finally, in February 2025, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has yet again revised the plan and submitted the detailed project report to the State government. A double-decker has been proposed in the new plan, with an elevated road on the first level and the Metro line on the second level.
The initial detailed project report predicted that if the work started by 2023, it could be completed in 2026. Today, even the land acquisition has not begun. Commuters from Tambaram and Perungalathur say it takes 30-40 minutes to go to the airport station at peak hours. While it is difficult for those residing in Chromepet and Pallavaram too, they can reach the airport station faster.
Long commute
V. Govindarajan, a resident of Tambaram, says that a bus commute to the airport station takes close to 40 minutes. If he goes by a two-wheeler, he has to park it at the Pallavaram parking lot and take a shuttle to the airport station.
“A Metro Rail station at Tambaram would save so much time for thousands of people like me. The travel from the airport station to the Government Estate station, a distance of 18 km, is barely half-an-hour,” he says.
Dayanand Krishnan, a resident of Chitlapakkam, moved to Tambaram in 2007. In the last 18 years, he says, the traffic has increased to unimaginable levels. He says the bottleneck points are the Chromepet signal and the signal before Pallavaram flyover. He recalls how he spent an hour and 45 minutes last week to travel from Anna Salai to Chitlapakkam. Had there been Metro Rail connectivity, he would have returned home in less than an hour, he adds.
“I have filed several RTI Act petitions seeking information about the Airport-Kilambakkam project and when it would be implemented. While many projects are planned, it is frustrating to see how much these projects are delayed,” he says.
V. Santhanam, a senior citizen and social activist, says lakhs of people reside in the southern suburbs because the housing is more affordable in these areas. “People regularly travel from Tambaram and Perungalathur to the Information Technology Corridor and Anna Salai for work. While the Information Technology Corridor has been covered under the phase II project, it is disappointing that congested areas such as Tambaram and Perungalathur still wait for Metro Rail.”
Mr. Govindarajan adds that as soon as a project is announced by the government, real estate companies propose housing projects in and around the project site. “People buy houses in the hope that though the area is far away from the core areas of the city, they can commute in the future by Metro Rail. I know a lot of people who bought apartments in Tambaram for this reason,” he adds.
Plea made a decade ago
L. Sundararaman, who resides near Tambaram Sanatorium, says the residents of the locality requested the State government nearly a decade ago to bring in Metro Rail to Tambaram and neighbouring areas.
According to CMRL officials, the delay was due to the changes in the detailed project report. “We are planning to request the government to start land acquisition this year. We are confident that this project will be taken up at the earliest,” an official says.
Published – February 25, 2025 10:58 pm IST