Passengers enjoy their first ride of the new Metro stretch

The second stretch of the Chennai Metro Rail, between Little Mount and the airport, was thrown open to the public on Wednesday. Just like the earlier time in June 2015, when the service between Koyambedu and Alandur was inaugurated, citizens thronged the station for a sample ride. This time around the response was rather more lukewarm than last year. 

Staff guided passengers through the new procedures, manning ticket vending machine at all stations, to be of help. 

Families made it a point to explore the newly-opened facilities despite it being a weekday. Five-year-old Meena, who boarded the train at the airport, was delighted to receive a balloon. Her father, Shyam, a tea stall owner in Meenambakkam, said that they had been waiting eagerly for the ride, having missed it the first time. 

The new stretch will serve airport passengers well. Rajasekar V, a businessman and resident of Anna Nagar, took his first ride in the metro after he landed from Thiruvananthapuram. “It took me less than two minutes to reach from the ‘arrival gate’ to the metro premises. I bought my ticket, took the lift to platform number two, reached Alandur, where I took another metro to Koyambedu. I had heavy luggage, and it was convenient as there were lifts and escalators everywhere. I had to pay Rs 50 to reach Koyambedu in 20 minutes during peak hour traffic,” he said. He added that he hoped that they would connect the metro directly to the airport soon. 

Not everybody was happy with the pricing. “I took a train from Little Mount to the airport and back just for the experience. The facilities are good, but spending Rs 40 for the ride is too much for the common man. There are two types of value cards – the stored value card and the trip card, offering 10 and 20 per cent discount respectively on the regular fares. But it’s still more than the AC bus fare covering the same route,” said S. Shanmugam, a retired government employee. 

The highlight of the ride clearly is when the elevated metro rail dips below the surface for around 500 metres near the Officers’ Training Academy when people looked keenly through the glass window. 

“The view of the airport from the metro is beautiful; we could see a flight take off,” said AK Akash, another passenger.