Chennai Metro Conducts Trial Of Driverless Train On 10 km Stretch

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited has conducted a trial run of a driverless train on a 10 kilometre stretch, amid much cheer and excitement from commuters.

The trial was held between Poonamallee and Porur metro stations as part of the Phase II project on Monday. The line is expected to be open to the public by December.

Prior to this, the trial of a driverless train was held only on a three kilometre stretch, till Mullai Thottam.

"Extension of testing and trials today marks a significant milestone in the progress of the Phase-2 project of CRML," said M. A. Siddique, who is the managing director of the project. 

The city already has a 54.1 km-long metro rail route. The Rs 63,246 crore ambitious phase 2 project aims to add a 118.9 km-metro line connecting more areas, including Madhavaram, Sholinganallur, Light House, Poonamallee and Siruseri. The project would have 76.3km elevated lines and 42.6km underground lines.

The phase 1 of the metro connects Airport, Wimco Nagar, St Thomas Mount and  Chennai Central. The daily passenger traffic touches 86.6 lakh every month. 

The phase II project will serve as a boon to lakhs of Chennaiites in densely populated pockets of the city, including the IT Corridor, the home for thousands of techies. 

Easwaran Ram, a software professional at a company in Porur, said: "When I went to Japan, I saw how people in Tokyo use the metro. I'd love to take a metro to travel to other places like the airport."  

Antony, an entrepreneur on the IT corridor said: "This morning, it took me 90 minutes to drive 21.4 km. The metro will definitely be faster and reliable". 

With inputs from Deepthi Joseph