This is North Chennai’s Metro Rail!

Mu Ramanathan

Published in Hindu-Tamil newspaper on 12 February 2021- Translated Version

The Cooum river splits the city of Chennai in two: North Chennai and South Chennai. This division is not only geographical. South Chennai is home to the city’s rich and influential residents and is peppered with supermarkets, shopping complexes, malls, concert halls, and flyovers. Phase-1 of the Chennai Metro Rail development was not an exception to this unwritten rule. Of Phase-1’s 32 stations, only three are on the north side: Parry’s Corner (High Court), Mannady, and Old Washermanpet. But the Phase-1 extension line, which Prime Minister Modi flagged off on 14 February 2021, pierced through North Chennai. The 9.05km extension, consisting of eight stations, travels from Old Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar.

While South Chennai exceeds the north in wealth and prosperity, North Chennai is rich in heritage. The first modern city in all of India was established in North Chennai. On 22 August 1639, a date now commemorated as “Madras Day”, the East India Company bought the village of Madarasapattinam from Vijayanagar Empire. The names of figures involved in the city’s early establishment, such as Parry, Binny and Arbuthnot, are entangled with North Chennai. Most of the city’s heritage buildings are located in its north side. St. George Fort, High Court, St. Anderson Church, YMCA, Pachiyappa’s Hall (modelled on the Athenian Temple of Theseus), Bank of Madras’s headquarters (now State Bank of India), and the General Post Office all silently showcase the pride of North Chennai’s yesteryear.

Eight stations: a journey through history

A passenger on the new metro rail route will witness glimmers of North Chennai’s history. After Old Washermanpet, the first station of the extended new line is Sir Thiyagaraya College. Pitti Thiyagaraya (1852 – 1925), a cofounder and the first president of the Justice Party, was a North Chennai resident. The college he established has stood tall for over a century, and its legacy will now be burnished by a metro station sharing its name.

The next station is Tondiarpet, whose name has an interesting prelude. Kunangudi Mastan Sahib (1792 - 1838), a scholar and a Sufi, meditated in this region. He was born at Kunangudi, a village near the town of Thondi in Ramanathapuram district. The locals called him "Thondiar" ("man hailing from Thondi"), and the place “Thondiar-petttai” (pettai means a place or colony). Later, the place came to be known as Tondiarpet.

The third station is New Washermenpet, predominantly an industrial estate. The fourth station Tollgate Metro is the entrance to Thiruvottriyur suburbs. The next station is Kaladipet Metro. The name comes from Collet-pettai, which was named after 18th century colonial governor Lord Collet. The Kalyana Varadaraja Perumal Temple in this area was built by him. The sixth station is Thiruvottriyur Theradi, a synonymous name (The word Theradi means a place where the temple car is parked).

The seventh station is Thiruvottriyur Metro. The poems on the temple over here were sung by Appar, Sundarar, and Gnana Sambandhar, who were prominent among the Nayanars, a group of 63 saint-poets of Tamil Saiva Siddhanta tradition. The sanctum sanctorum of this temple was built by the emperor Rajendra Chola (1012-44), says the epigraphist S.R. Balasubramaniam. Saint Pattinathar, a 14th century lyricist who urged the disowning of earthly pleasures, lived his last days in this temple town.

The last station on this journey is Wimco Nagar Metro. The Wimco group of industries, which gives the station its name, manufactures many brands of matchboxes including Cheetah Fight Matches.

Out of these eight stations, the first two are underground and the remaining are elevated. The elevated viaduct is built 40 feet above the Thiruvottiyur High Road. As a part of the metro rail construction, this road also got a facelift. On either side of the pillars supporting the viaduct are parapet walls, along which greenery is maintained.

Merits of metro rail

All over the world, metro rails are considered a modern face of any city. Metro rail is an environmentally friendly form of public transportation that run with less fuel and less energy than other alternatives. They offer fast, clean, air-conditioned travel while reducing congestion in road traffic.

The metro train stations are meant for commuting inside the city, and as such are situated fairly close to each other: often only one kilometre apart. The gap between trains, called “headway”, is also kept short, allowing residents to travel quickly from one point of the city to another.

Further development

There is a proposal to further extend the line beyond Wimco Nagar up to Ponneri. A massive depot in an area of one-and-half lakh square feet is coming up at Wimco Nagar with 16 tracks. The development plans include the construction of three levels of carpark and 20 levels of commercial complex at the depot, for which the foundations have already been laid. The existing depot at Koyambedu accommodates the requirements of all Phase-1 stations, including the recent extension. The Wimco Nagar depot will serve the Phase-2 stations.

At an estimated cost of INR 63,246 crore, Phase-2 will have three corridors and run 118.9km long. In her recent budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared that the central government will provide funding support for the project. The Phase-2 work has been divided into 17 civil packages and all tenders have been called for.

When completed, Phase-2 will have 125 stations, out of which 30 will be in North Chennai. Corridor-3 (Madhavaram to SIPCOT) will traverse through Madhavaram, Thapalpetti, Moolakadai, Sembiyam, Perambur, Pattalam, Ayanavaram and Kellys. Corridor-5 (Madhavaram to Sholinganallur) will traverse through Venugopal Nagar, Sasthri Nagar, Retteri, Kolathur, Villivakam and Nadhamuni.

The Chennai metro rail will thus link the densely populated North Chennai region to the industrial, commercial and educational areas of the city in the south. These connections will allow residents to live in one part of the city but work in another. In this way, the metro rail could act a levelling and equalizing factor in the city’s economic development.

In many ways, metro rail is distinct from India’s longstanding forms of rail travel. Intercity trains and suburban trains are operated by the Indian Railways and owned by the central government, whereas the metro rails are owned by state governments. On 14 February 2021, the Tamil Nadu state government’s property list acquired eight new additions in the form of Chennai metro rail stations. When Phase-2 is complete, more than 125 stations will be added to this list, including many stations that will cross through the historically rich neighbourhoods of North Chennai, connecting them across geographic and socio-economic boundaries to the rest of the city.

 [Mu Ramanathan, writer, engineer. Contact: [email protected]]