P K Bansal, Managing Director and his creative team at the CMRL have come out with innovative ideas to improve the quality and value of the service. The recent one is extending the service hours of the metro beginning from 0430 hrs extending up to 2300 hrs. The convenient connection right into the airport is witnessing increasing custom. A recent report mentions the footfalls at the airport quickly expanding to around 1500 daily. With the completion of the first phase, taking the metro through several essential parts of the city including the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), Egmore and Central railway stations, the number of commuters is nearing 100,000 a day. The last mile connectivity issue addressed by share taxis, autorickshaws, bicycles and motorbikes at select stations, has also been increasing custom.
When a convenient and efficient public transport facility is available, wasteful personalized transport would be shunned. One witnesses this in metros like New York and London. R Dinesh, the scion of TV Sundram Iyengar focuses on the logistics sector taking it global. He expressed his admiration for the Chennai Metro Rail system and said he commutes by the metro rail from the airport.
The setting up of the Unified Urban Transportation Authority and joint ticketing among different modes of transportation presently under development would give a significant boost to Chennai metro. We remind again the urgency to construct the small link between St Thomas Mount and the Velachery MRTS rail stations that will further contribute to seamless commuting across several parts of Chennai.
Case for speeding up Hosur airport
Four decades ago the Tamil Nadu government took up Hosur for industrial development. A quiet village with salubrious climate and orchards had a big attraction-its location on the border of Bengaluru. It was ideal to have a factory in Hosur and the executives housed in Bengaluru across the border. This provided the executives all the comforts of living in a metro.
In a short time, Hosur attracted hundreds of industrial units like Ashok Leyland, Carborundum Universal, Exide Industries, Sundram Fasteners, TVS Motors, Titan Industries… and soon Hosur emerged the fastest growing industrial hub of Tamil Nadu. Today, Hosur is a famous industrial town with an increasing population and expanding infrastructure in terms of housing, education…
The missing link is air connectivity. This was not much of a problem until the Bengaluru airport shifted from its old habitat alongside HAL to 40 km north from the city at Devanahalli.
With the dramatic transformation of Bengaluru emerging as the Silicon Valley of India, the already crowded industrial city with its large number of PSUs, notably defense research establishments, witnessed an explosive growth in air travel. The modern Kempegowda International Airport catalyzed by the brilliant technocrat, L&T’s A Ramakrishna, is already gearing up for significant expansion. However, with chaotic urban traffic, it takes long hours to transfer from the airport to the Electronic City, Narayana Hrudaya Hospital and beyond to Hosur.
Imagine a travel time of around 45 minutes from Chennai to Bengaluru by air and spending another three hours to reach the Electronic City or Hosur!
Welcome news (not for BIAL) is Hosur getting ready for its airport. There is a strong case for the Centre building a large airport on the Karnataka – Tamil Nadu border that will cater to the vast requirements of Hosur, the Electronic City, and the hinterland.
