Velachery-Taramani service road to boost MRTS patronage.

The Southern Railway hopes to attract more commuters to use the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) once the service road between the Velachery and Taramani railway stations is ready next year.

The service road work launched in 2009 and running along the tracks of the MRTS has had stuttering starts because of confusion between the Chennai Corporation and the railway department in the execution of the project. The Southern Railway finally decided to execute the project and restarted the work in 2015.

A senior official of the Southern Railway said the service road linking Velachery and Taramani railway stations is planned to be completed before March 2018.

The official said of the total length of 3.40 km more than half of the stretch has been completed between Taramani and Perungudi railway stations. A small portion of the road work is pending because of the construction of a culvert to link the storm water drain network with the Pallikaranai marshland.

While Velachery railway station has attracted a large commuter population because of multi-modal transport facility, the Perungudi and Taramani railway stations, being located on the perimeter of the Pallikaranai marshland, suffer from poor access and lack of any other transport facilities.

S. Kalaiarasan, a resident of Baby Nagar, said people are wary of using Perungudi railway station fearing safety concerns. He said the service road would definitely come as a boon as mini-buses could be operated between the railway stations.

The residents also point out that the completion of the service road would ease traffic congestion on the Taramani Link Road, as vehicles proceeding from Madipakkam and nearby areas would use it to reach the IT corridor of Rajiv Gandhi Salai.

THE HINDU