In two years, the daily struggles and frustrating rides on the IT corridor may ease as Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II stretch along OMR will be ready. Sholinganallur, a hub which houses a mix of residential and office space, is all set to have a massive, elevated interchange Chennai Metro Rail station which will allow people to travel to various parts of the city.
Apart from the unique design, there are several interesting aspects to the Sholinganallur station which is under construction. Closer to the station’s entry, an eight-storey building will be constructed, and both will be linked with a tube.
The trains coming from corridor 5 (Madhavaram to Sholinganallur) will be on the upper platform, and corridor 3 (Madhavaram to SIPCOT) will be on the lower platform. The design is such that, if you board on the corridor 5 platform, the train will take a small curve shaped route, pass through the fifth floor of the eight-storey building and then come to the corridor 3 platform.
T. Archunan, director (projects), Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), said there will be a grade separator built along with the station structure. What’s more fascinating is, a plaza will be built on the first level, then the grade separator will come up on the second level, the corridor 3 platform on the third level and finally, corridor 5 on the fourth level.
The station design looks like a plus sign from above (a perpendicular arrangement), wherein corridor 3 and corridor 5 look like crisscrossing. This has been done so that passengers can seamlessly switch from one corridor to another.
“Corridor 5 platform will be constructed at the maximum height here at 28.8 metres from the road; below that, corridor 3 platform will come up at 21.8 metres. At the plaza, we are planning a mini leisure and activity centre like the Kathipara Urban Square,” he said.
At the eight-storey building, the first floor will be for parking, the train will pass through the fifth floor but there will be no facility to board here. From the sixth to eighth floor, the CMRL is planning to utilise it as office space or for retail outlets. “We are not planning Sholinganallur as a major transit station,” he added.
Closer to Sholinganallur, Thoraipakkam station which is being built now will have similar features like Sholinganallur. a plaza is being constructed at the first level, grade separator in the second level and the corridor 3 station at the third level. But commuters can change trains between corridor 3 and corridor 5 only at Sholinganallur and not at Thoraipakkam.
