Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System

For the true metro under construction, see Chennai Metro

Chennai MRTS சென்னை எம் ஆர் டி எஸ்
Overview
Owner	Southern Railway (India)
Locale	Chennai (Madras)
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	1 (Phase I & II)
Number of stations	21 (Phase I & II)
Daily ridership	76,800
Website	http://www.southernrailway.gov.in/sutt/mrts.php
Operation
Began operation	1997
Operator(s)	Southern Railway (India)
Technical
System length	Template:Km to mi [Line 1]
Track gauge	Broad gauge
Electrification	25 kV, 50 Hz AC through overhead catenary
System map

Railway map of the Chennai suburban train system including the MRTS

The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is an elevated line of the urban mass transit system (metro-like cityrail) in Chennai (Madras), India. The line currently runs within city from Chennai Beach (Madras Beach) to Velachery, covering a distance of 25 km with 21 stations. In spite of full technical and logical separation from the Chennai Suburban Railway, the MRTS is operated by the state-owned Southern Railway (SR), a zone of Indian Railways.

History

Chennai, India's fourth-largest urban agglomeration, has a well-established suburban railway network, which dates back to 1931, when services began on the metre-gauge line from Beach to Tambaram. Two more suburban services were begun in 1985—Madras Central to Arakkonam and Madras Central to Gummidipoondi, both of which were broad-gauge services.

In the 1980s, the government began planning for a new railway line inside the city. The Suburban Lines offered no connectivity to Central and South Madras (as Chennai was known then). Planning began in 1985 and construction was started in 1991 . The first phase was much delayed and finally opened in 1997. The section of the line encompassing the first three Stations—Beach, Fort and Park Town, is at grade; after Park Town it begins climbing. All the Stations after Park Town—Chintadripet, Chepauk, Tiruvallikeni, Lighthouse and Thirumaylai are elevated. The Line from Park Town to Thirumaylai follows the course of the Buckingham Canal, which runs parallel to the Coromandel Coast.

The second phase of the MRTS connects Thirumaylai to Velachery, a southern suburb. Till Perungudi station all the stations are elevated. One of the main stations in this stretch is Thiruvanmiyur Station, which is just across from Tidel Park. The elevated track between Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery was opened to public on November 19, 2007.

Design

Each MRTS Station is designed by a different architect and is built to accommodate a full-length EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) rake, possibly consisting of 9 or 12 cars. Currently six-car and nine-car rakes are run on the line, as the traffic on the MRTS Line is considerably less than the three Suburban Lines, where nine and twelve-car rakes run daily. Though the headway is expected once the patronage increases steadily. The MRTS runs from Beach to Velachery in about 40 minutes (compared to 2 hours by road in peak hours for the same distance). The first train from Beach starts at 4:15 am and the last starts at 9:35 pm. In reverse the first train from Velachery starts at 5:00 am and runs till 10.20 pm. MRTS runs a total of 62 pairs (Up and Down) of train on a daily basis on weekdays. But on Sundays it is considerably less. The trains run on the MRTS are 'normal' EMUs, and do not have automatic doors like a Metro train. This is because the MRTS is considered to be an elevated extension of the Suburban Network and not a Metro System, as such. However, the MRTS can be considered a Metro, since it is elevated for the majority of its length, and its services are exclusive, i.e. no other trains run on the MRTS Line.

Corridors

Corridor 1: Chennai Beach (MSB) — St. Thomas Mount (STM) [24.715 km]
Corridor 2: Thiruvanmiyur (TVMR) — Mamallapuram

It has been proposed to extend the MRTS corridor from Thiruvanmiyur to Mamallapuram

Corridor 1: Chennai Beach — St. Thomas Mount

MRTS project map

Phases

The project involves three phases, of which Phase I and Phase II are completed. Phase II extension is under construction.

Phase	Length (elevated) in km	Route	Stations	Cost (Initial Estimate) in crore rupees	Sanction	Opening	Finish
Phase I	8.55 (5.80)	Chennai Beach - Thirumayilai	8	260 (53.46)	1984	Nov 1, 1995	Oct 19, 1997
Phase II	11.16 (11)	Thirumayilai - Velachery	9	665 (733.4)	1998	Jan 26, 2004	Nov 19, 2007
Phase II Ext	5 (5)	Velachery - St. Thomas Mount	3	(417)	2007	Exp. 2012
Phase III	16.76 (~10.76)	St. Thomas Mount- Villivakkam	10	-	-	-

source:CMDA

Phase II extension

Work on the 5 km, three-station Phase II extension from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount started in 2008, for completion by December 2010. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 495.7 crore. However, one of the prime contractors is Maytas Infra, a subsidiary of the troubled Satyam, and Southern Railway has expressed its concern about an apparent halt in work since last 2008.

Phase III and beyond

The planned route for the MRTS will see it turn north after St Thomas Mount and touch the Suburban Line to Arakkonam at Villivakkam before continuing further North East and eventually going down to Grade, i.e. surface level again and merging with the Suburban Line to Gummidipoondi at Tondiarpet.

MRTS take over by CMRL

As of now, Southern Railways operates the MRTS Section. On August 2010, Mr.T.V. Somanathan, Managing Director, Chennai Metro Rail has proposed a plan for take over of MRTS by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited once the Metro becomes operational. Acquisition of MRTS with Chennai Metro will create a single point authority for all the elevated rail networks in Chennai. After the merger, the current MRTS rail stretch will run Advanced rail cars with air-conditioned rakes that have automatic doors and the same will replace all the normal EMUs.

ticket from Thiruvanmiyur to Chennai Beach, for Rs 6

Gallery

Station Models

• 
  Indira Nagar
• 
  Thiruvanmiyur (actual building)
• 
  Taramani I
• 
  Velachery

MRTS Stations

• 
  Velachery MRTS station
• 
  Tirumailai MRTS station (interior)
• 
  Tirumailai MRTS station (exterior)
• 
  Thiruvanmiyur station (exterior)
• 
  Thiruvanmiyur station (interior, ground floor)
• 
  Chintadripet station
• 
  Chintadripet station

Misc.

• 
  GPS showing train timings
• 
  EMU at Velachery station
• 
  Side profile of EMU in MRTS
• 
  MRTS crossing in IT Corridor
• 
  Aerial view when MRTS was under construction
• 
  Mylapore railway station at afternoon.

Criticism

Wasted floor space at Thiruvanmiyur station

The MRTS has often come under criticism for poor maintenance, lack of security and no connectivity options with other transit systems. There is also a wastage of floor space in all its stations which was initially planned to be used for commercial purposes. In Early 1970s, Madras Area Traffic Study Unit (MATSU) has estimated about six lakh per day ridership by MRTS. Currently, only about 70,000 people travel by MRTS making the MRTS a failure project.

The Operational cost of the entire stretch is about Rs.18 lakh per day while revenue generated mounts to only Rs.3 lakh per day. With this, MRTS incurs an annual operational loss of about Rs.54.7 crore. According to the view of Railway officials, the operational loss will be mitigated by execution of Phase II of the project (Thirumalai to Velacherry).

See also

• List of Chennai MRTS stations
• Chennai Suburban Railway
• Chennai Metro

External links

• Official Timetable of MRTS, Chennai
• Network map
• Chennai Metro