First look at Chennai Metro Rail's underbelly.

For the very first time since Metro Rail crawled through the earth below the city, The Hindu is the only media organisation allowed to go underground.

At quarter to six in the evening, sunlight has waned, but bright floodlights are switched on. There is a flurry of activity at Nehru Park for the construction of an underground station - where the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) from China was launched in July 2012.

Two TBMs from China were employed at this station to drill from Nehru Park to Egmore and it took nearly 18 months for the machines to tunnel a distance of about 950 metres.

Washed by surprise morning showers recently, the station area is damp and slippery. In a corner, a caged staircase takes you 50 feet below the ground - where few years hence, passengers will enter and exit the train.

The construction of an underground station with two levels, the concourse and platform, is afoot at Nehru Park. Soon after this station becomes operational, the four entry/exit points of this station (near Kilpauk traffic police station, Sangam theatre complex, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and Arya Vaidya Sala) will serve as subways even for non-Metro users, says an official.


THE HINDU