CHENNAI: The expansion of the Metro Rail beyond the 45 km stretch hangs in balance as it appears that the State is yet to give a green signal on expanding its corridors.With the announcement that the TN government will go for Mono Rail, the decision on extending the Metro Rail beyond the two corridors now rests with the government, sources said.Of the 23 km stretch in Corridor 1 (Washermenpet to Airport), 14 km is tunnelled, while in Corridor 2, a 10 km stretch of Metro Rail is underground.Interestingly, preliminary work to start the tunnelling began in the Washermenpet in December raising doubts whether the extension of Corridor 1 to Thiruvottriyur will be implemented. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had also given a green signal to the extension during the previous DMK regime. But sources said the plan had not reached implementation stage.During the DMK regime, a committee also submitted a report on extending the Rail Corridor besides studying the possibility of establishing new corridors, but it was still at the detailed project report (DPR) stage.There had also been calls for extending the project to link Anna Nagar West and Mogappair between Thirumangalam and Koyambedu. Residents in the area have urged the government to carry out a slight deviation in the Corridor 2 route so that the traffic problems in these localities could be managed better. But, now it looks as though the Mono Rail may be the solution to their woes.
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