The Union Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Stage 1A of Chennai Metro Phase-1, from Little Mount to Airport in Chennai today. The Stage 1A of Phase I project from Little Mount to Airport runs a total length of 8.613 kms and comprises of 6 stations namely Little Mount, Guindy, Alandur, Nanganallur Road Station, Meenambakkam and Airport Metro Station.During the inauguration, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said that it is a very proud occasion for the people of Chennai and the Chennai Metro Rail Limited to witness the achievement of yet another milestone. He said that with the opening of the metro line from Little Mount to Airport, Chennai will now have around 19 kilometres of metro operational, out of the total 45 kilometres of Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase 1.The Minister said that the elevated section from Koyambedu to Alandur (10.15 KM) of Phase-1 was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Ms. J Jayalalithaa in June 2015. In June 2016, the Government of India had approved the extension of the Chennai Metro Phase-1 from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar for about 9 kilometres for a total cost of Rs 3,770 crores, he added.
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the Government of India have so far released about Rs. 10,000 Cr. for the Chennai Metro Phase-1 project. He said that with today’s inauguration, about 324 kilometres of metro rail will be operational in the country, in the cities of Delhi and NCR, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Mumbai. Around 520 kilometres is presently under construction in various cities including Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Lucknow and another around 553 kilometres is under consideration, he added.Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said that public will benefit immensely with the Chennai Metro Project connecting the areas, where there is constant traffic congestion on road. He said that the cities, which have taken a holistic approach to urban mobility planning and have adopted a comprehensive set of well integrated measures, have succeeded in addressing the issues such as pollution, congestion, lack of connectivity.