MRTS Services to Velachery soon
MRTS services to Velachery will become a reality before this month-end. The Commissioner of Railway Safety, who earlier conducted the preliminary inspection of the Tirumailai—Velacheri section, will conduct the final inspection in the third week of July.After his clearance, the line will be opened for passenger traffic, according to Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu.Inaugurating a PRS centre at Tiruvanmiyur station here on Saturday, the Minister said preliminary work for the next phase of the project i.e. from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount had started. Nearly 75 per cent of the alignment would be along the median of the road. But land acquisition for 25 per cent near St. Thomas Mount would be a problem as there were many buildings on the stretch. If people cooperated with the administration, the extension could be completed before 2009.The Minister hoped that the patronage for MRTS services would improve once they were extended to Velachery.Lack of inter-modal facilities was the major reason for the poor patronage of the services.Taking this into consideration, the administration had provided bus bays in some of the MRTS stations.Referring to a demand by the Union Shipping and Surface Transport Minister T.R. Baalu for providing a stoppage at Guindy for all trains coming from the South, the Minister said it would be done after completing the platform extension work at the station.As a majority of the trains had 22 to 24 coaches, the platform length should be extended to accommodate the entire train, he added.
