Sources say a few crore rupees would be paid for the maintenance of the stations, which began in April.
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
Despite receiving the final approval from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety a month ago, the Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II stretch from Poonamallee to Porur and Vadapalani is yet to be opened for public use.Even as it awaits inauguration, the stretch sees hundreds of staff maintaining the stations, with electricity being consumed for various purposes every day. Pointing out that crores of taxpayers’ money are required to maintain a ready asset, commuters ask why the stretch has not been launched till today.‘Details sent’Sources said the readiness of the stretch had already been communicated to the Centre and all the details sent, and that they were expecting the inauguration to take place soon.“Nearly 350-400 workers are employed in maintaining the stations from Poonamallee to Porur and the Vadapalani station. The air-conditioning system is used in rooms housing various systems and lights are switched on every evening. This has been the case for the last three months. This is a necessity. We cannot keep the stations closed and reopen it one fine day before the launch. The systems and stations would be thrown into disarray if maintenance is stopped,” a source said.Since April, the contractor has been maintaining the stations. The firm will soon be paid a few crore rupees for these services, though the resources were not being utilised, another source said.‘Money getting wasted’R.K. Ravichandran, a resident of Iyyapanthangal, said, “It is taxpayers’ money that is getting wasted. There should be some accountability. Initially, the authorities kept pushing the deadline saying the construction was yet to be completed. Now that the stations are ready, they are still not opening it. At the end of the day, it is the commuters who suffer without access to a mass rapid transit system.”G. Subramaniam, a resident of Poonamallee, said he could drastically reduce his travel time to north Chennai if he had access to the Chennai Metro Rail system.“I often travel to Tiruvottiyur, and it takes nearly an hour and a half by car. I have been looking forward to the launch so that commuting will become easier. It is unfair how, after spending so much of public money, the facility is still not accessible to commuters,” he added. Published - June 30, 2026 12:33 am IST
