According to sources the proposed merger of Chennai Metro Railway and MRTS might soon materialize as the Southern Railway is studying the feasibility of the same in terms of the last mile connectivity. Meanwhile the idea of handing over the MRTS services, which at present connects the stretch from Chennai Beach to Velachery stations, to Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) which operates the metro services across the city was mooted a few years ago as an attempt to provide seamless connectivity for the commuters.
Accordingly a private consultant company, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), was appointed to prepare a feasibility report on the proposal, which was submitted in a few years back. Presently that phase I of Chennai Metro is fully operational and when talking to reporters about the merger, a senior railway official said, “We had a meeting in July 2018 at the secretarial level, where the consultants presented their report. Most of the things said in the report were agreed upon by MRTS and CMRL.”
Moreover owing to some issues in relation to laying another railway line between Chennai Egmore and Chennai Beach, the merger works have been stalled. The official added “However, Southern Railway is in the process of assessing the hurdles, and will prepare a feasibility report soon, which will be submitted to Railway and Urban Development Ministries”. Even though the merger is an attractive prospect for Southern Railways due to an increase in revenue, the commuters are warier.
