“You are fascinated by the metro, aren’t you '? That was the question a friend of mine asked me , as she noticed that I was lost in the London underground map for a considerable amount of time, while the rest of the group were busy with other things. And my answer was a very energetic nod of my head. I am indeed fascinated by the underground transport system called the metro or subway or underground or tube or T bana or whatever in various cities of the world.
The first thing that I do after reaching a new city is to grab a copy of the metro map. The maze of different lines criss- crossing each other in the map captivates me no end. My first experience in one of these underground systems was when we did a Paris trip in April 2005. Initially the map looked all confusing, but after the first trip to get to the airport to our hostel, I already had got a hang of it. And when I compared the metro map to the over ground road map of Paris, the real simplicity and ease of the metro struck me. What was a labyrinth of roads and complicated routes over ground was filtered down to just 2 metro lines, taking me from point A to point B in 20 minutes flat. The metro system of course is as complicated as the roads in terms of the physical layout of the underground, but we are made oblivious of it. That for me was the beauty of it. That under the chaotic exterior, there is a big network underground, but which does not awe you with its complexity, instead making your travel quite simple.
Having had to use public transport in both Madras and Bombay as part of my work, and seen the trouble with them, perhaps my fascination for these underground systems only grew more. So much so that I used to frequent the Subway outlet in GN Chetty road, Chennai because every table had a different city metro map laid out under a glass covering. So if one day I was having a Chicken Teriyaki poring over the New York subway map, the next day I was devouring a tuna sub looking at the Tokyo system.
As my trips abroad increased and I started visiting more cities, I started becoming a metro devotee. I created imaginary metro lines that could run in Bombay and Chennai which solves the problem of the overcrowded suburban trains and make life easier for the masses in these cities who struggle no end everyday using the existing modes of transport. The fact that the unique elevated transport system in Chennai ( MRTS) was being criminally under utilized and not getting enough patronage troubled me no end. Every new government coming in to power in Tamil Nadu had a new idea. If someone suggested light rail, the other suggested mono rail while no one seemed to be bothered about the MRTS not functioning well
Finally some sane heads worked on it and now the subway plan is up and running. The routes have been finalized, the locations for constructing the stations identified and things going ahead. The project is being undertaken by the Delhi metro guys, who have given a world class metro system in Delhi and in quick time.
The Chennai metro is slated for completion sometime in 2014. More information and the proposed corridor can be found here.
http://www.chennaimetrorail.gov.in/Proposed_Corridors.htmAdd the current suburban tracks and the elevated MRTS to the metro network and Chennai will have a comprehensive transport system. The MRTS is getting better patronage now that it has been extended to Velachery and in the future if it goes up to St.Thomas Mount where it would meet the proposed metro line , then a circle gets completed which would cover most parts of the city. Three different rail systems would take the load off the roads to a great extent and also make travel faster. And I believe and hope that they day is not far off.
So here is for all the metro systems in the world and the one coming up in Chennai. You bet I would be one of the first to hop on to that when it starts functioning.
