Airport Metro link off to flying start

Flagging off the maiden ride on the 8.6km stretch, which also comprises a couple of hundred meters of underground stretch along the airport runway, from the Secretariat through video conferencing mode, Jayalalithaa said that passenger operations on the 1.28 km stretch from Alandur to St Thomas Mount would commence shortly after obtaining clearance from Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety. With that the entire elevated corridor would be fully operational.

Assuring of direct connectivity to Airport from Koyambedu, she said “very soon be run on the loop line at Alandur so that direct train connections could be provided from Koyambedu to the Airport without having to change at Alandur.” The service has been delayed due to operational difficulty. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and his cabinet colleague Pon Radhakrishnan took a ride on the newly opened lined from Airport station. Originally scheduled for December 2015, the airport connectivity got delayed inadvertently.

Jayalalithaa also said the underground section would be operational by the year end. “I look forward to the commencement of operation on the underground section of the metro rail, which I am confident, will be before the end of 2016,” she said.