Railways to part away 33 per cent MRTS stake
According to an official, MRTS was developed by the state government and Southern Railway with each having 67 per cent and 33 per cent stake.
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CHENNAI: As the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) invited consultants to prepare a business plan for taking over the MRTS system (Mass Rapid Transit System), Southern Railway will hand over its 33 per cent stake in the MRTS system.
According to an official, MRTS was developed by the state government and Southern Railway with each having 67 per cent and 33 per cent stake.
"Once the take is completed, the Railway's stake will be transferred to the state government. The government will decide on which department to run the MRTS thereafter," the official said.
However, it is learned that Chennai Metrorail Limited would run the trains while Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) would upgrade and maintain the stations by commercializing the space.
It may be noted that the decision of taking over the MRTS was taken in a meeting held in April between the Ministry of Railways and the State Housing and Urban Development Department.
MRTS covers a network length of around 24.3km starting from Chennai Beach and terminating at St Thomas Mount, in which the network from Chennai Beach to Velachery (19.3 km) is presently operated by Southern Railways, and the last stretch from Velachery to St Thomas Mount (5 km) is under implementation.
The MRTS corridor in total has 21 Stations, out of these 4 stations are at the surface level, while the remaining stations are elevated.
Even after the preparation of the business plan, MRTS takeover will materialize only after the completion of the fourth line between Chennai Beach and Chennai Egmore for 4 kilometers.
