What Will Be The Impact Of Metro On Chennai's Real Estate Market

The Chennai Metro has been expanding in the city rapidly. It was in February 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two stretches of the Chennai Metro — Washermanpet to Chennai Central and Chennai Central to AG-DMS — the first phase of the city's mass transit system. With an aim to ease the connectivity in the city, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Budget 2021, announced central counterpart funding of Rs 63,000 crores for Chennai Metro Phase II which will be 189 kms long. This has come as big news for the Chennai real estate market, which has been flourishing towards the peripheries as the Chennai Metro Phase I got operational. 

Here are the details about the complete Chennai Metro network.

Phase I

Length: The corridor or the Blue Line of the Chennai Metro network now span a total length of 54 km that connects the Chennai International Airport to Wimco Nagar.

Stations: The corridor comprises 25 stations, of which 11 are underground. The stations on the 45-km Phase-1 Corridor are Chennai International Airport, Meenambakkam, Nanganallur Road, Alandur, Guindy, Little Mount, Saidapet, Nandanam, Teynampet, AG-DMS, Thousand Lights, LIC, Government Estate, Chennai Central, High Court, Mannadi and Washermanpet. The stations on the Phase 1 extension are Sir Theagaraya College, Korukkupet, Tondiarpet, Toll Gate, Thangal, Gowri Ashram, Tiruvottiyur and Wimco Nagar. An elevated maintenance at Wimco Nagar will also be built.

Phase II

According to the detailed project report, the Phase-II of the Chennai Metro will cover a distance of 189km and will have 124 stations. This phase will have three corridors -- 3, 4 and 5. The new routes will provide connectivity to the city's suburbs.

The corridor 3 and 5 together will be 52 km in length and will run between Madhavram Milk Colony and Sholinganallur and  Madhavaram Milk Colony and CMBT, respectively. Being the priority corridors, the work on these will start this year. The corridor 4, which will be 10-km long, will link Lighthouse to Vadapalani.

There will be as many as 16 interchange stations in this phase, making commute between different lines easy. While corridor 3 and 5 will have seven interchange stations each, the corridor 4 will have three interchange stations.

Connectivity with the Phase-I route will be provided at St Thomas Mount, Alandur and CMBT stations.

The new phase will also have modern amenities for commuters, including pathways, skywalks, foot-over bridges and subways.

How will the new corridor impact real estate developments?

The Phase-I corridor runs from the north-east to the south-west corner of the city through some of the important destinations such as Alandur, Teynampet, Saidapet, Nanganallur Road and Guindy, all of which have emerged as a sought-after residential hub. The line also serves the popular locality, Chennai Central which is the main business hub of Tamil Nadu and offers employment options for the locals.

The Phase-II corridor which will connect the northern periphery of Chennai city with the southern periphery, will work as a lifeline for the upcoming real estate destinations in the area. The range of new projects coming up along Old Mahabalipuram Road will see renewed demand, as the Finance Minister has announced funding for this project. While the deadlines are not yet set, speculations may give rise to hefty profit for investors. 

In addition to this, north Chennai is known for housing many thickly populated localities dotted with several commercial hubs and buildings of historical importance. The upcoming Metro link comes as an effective solution to deal with road congestion and ensure a better commuting experience for the citizens.