Chennai Metro Rail: Tunnelling Works For Phase II Project Begins At Madhavaram

On Thursday (13 October), Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the Phase II Tunnelling Project of Chennai Metro at Madhavaram.

The expansion of Metro Phase II is planned with a network length of 118.9 km with 128 stations.

It consists of three corridors:

• Corridor -3 - From Madhavaram to SIPCOT (45.8 km),

• Corridor - 4 - From Lighthouse to Poonamalle Bypass (26.1 km),

• Corridor - 5 - From Madhavaram at Sholinganallur (47 km).

The underground stretches from Madhavaram to Kellys (a part of the Madhavaram-SIPCOT corridor) are being worked on.

From Madhavaram to Kellys, two tunnel-boring machines (TBM) will drill into the ground.

According to the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) press release, "The first boring machine will start tunnelling between Madhavaram Milk Colony and Thapal Petti station. A second machine is likely to start tunnelling from Madhavaram High Road to Thapal Petti station in November”, reports Economic Times.

At a depth of around 20 m, the Made-in-China TBM began drilling the soil from the Madhavaram Milk Colony station. One more machine will be dispatched from this location and will proceed on the same route as the others to Kellys.

Under the current geological circumstances, these two machines should be able to bore the earth at a speed of 10 m, with Madhavaram High Road as their next destination.

TBM measures 100 m in length and weighs around 600 tonne.

This equipment is expected to drill the earth from Madhavaram Milk Colony to Madhavaram High Road in about 140 days.

Between Madhavaram and Kellys, seven TBMs will be deployed, while eight will drill underground tunnels from Kellys to Taramani.

CMRL will construct underground stations and tunnels in corridor 3 from Madhavaram to Taramani, and after that, the metro would rise up as an elevated segment all the way to SIPCOT.

Around 26.7 km of Corridor 3's 45.81 km stretch from Madhavaram to SIPCOT and 10 km of Corridor 4, a 26 km route connecting Light House and Poonamallee, will be underground.

Another 5.8 km underground section of Corridor 5 connects Madhavaram and Shollinganallur, which spans 47 km.

The Phase II project will require 23 TBMs. The underground work will gradually spread to other parts of the city.

The estimated cost of the Phase II project is‌‌ Rs 63,246 crore. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.