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Old 12th June 2013, 18:19   #1786
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

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Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Is the full route of Chennai Metro dual track or single track or a mix of both at various stretches ?...
AFAIK, it is going to be double track all along.
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Old 12th June 2013, 18:35   #1787
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

It will be 2 tracks everywhere. The one at GST Road could be different from the one near Ekaduthangal because
1. The 2 lines are different and could be executed by different contractor.
2. The line near OTA is supposed to be lowered due to objections for AAI for usage of its Runway approach during plane landings and so could have different deck from the one in Ekaduthangal.

Please note I am not sure of the reason but I am pretty sure the overhead tracks are going to 2.
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Old 12th June 2013, 20:47   #1788
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

I would also think & sincerely hope it would be dual-tracks. However the Eekkaduthangal tracks look way narrow to be able to support 2 tracks.
But yeah, this is the view from below from inside the car - so maybe in reality it is not as narrow as it looks.
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Old 12th June 2013, 21:53   #1789
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

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Originally Posted by DWind View Post
It will be 2 tracks everywhere. The one at GST Road could be different from the one near Ekaduthangal because
1. The 2 lines are different and could be executed by different contractor.
2. The line near OTA is supposed to be lowered due to objections for AAI for usage of its Runway approach during plane landings and so could have different deck from the one in Ekaduthangal.

Please note I am not sure of the reason but I am pretty sure the overhead tracks are going to 2.
It will be double track throughout. Near Asarkhana on GST road both the lines from Ashok Nagar as well as Saidapet will meet, one above the other. Alandur metro station will be the interchange between both routes.

After OTA, the line will veer to the right (OTA) side of the road, dip gradually and go underground before Trident hotel, since it will be in the direct path of the runway approach. It will emerge half a KM later to elevated position, and return to the centre of the road. Then once again in front of AAI colony (after BMW showroom) it will again veer to the right side of the road and enter the airport premises for the final leg.

It will resemble a roller coaster ride! Run underground till Saidapet, emerge just near Adyar river bridge and become elevated at little mount, climb and fly over the Guindy suburban station, climb still further to go above Kathipara grade seperator, then climb down to normal elevation before running underground again in front of Trident, climb again infront of old airport......!
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Old 13th June 2013, 00:29   #1790
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Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
I would also think & sincerely hope it would be dual-tracks. However the Eekkaduthangal tracks look way narrow to be able to support 2 tracks.
But yeah, this is the view from below from inside the car - so maybe in reality it is not as narrow as it looks.
Yes. But there's another reason. The bridge that runs on the Koyambedu stretch is much taller than the one that runs on the airport stretch, have you noticed that? Maybe that's why it appears to be smaller. Or, the koyambedu stretch might have an extra line for pulling over like the railways have but, it's a metro, there cant be a passenger train pulling over to let the superfast or the express to over take it.
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Old 13th June 2013, 09:22   #1791
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

I have a bird's eye view of the viaduct from my 6th floor office widow, as it runs at the 5th floor level in front of our building. It is wide and there is a foundation for two sets of tracks. It need not be as wide as the MRTS viaduct because;

a) Metro rail will be standard gauge, which falls between metre gauge and broad guage.

b) The coaches will be about the size of a Volvo bus - not as wide as the broad gauge EMU coaches.

c) The tracks can be some what closer together than the EMU tracks, since the trains will be fully air conditioned, therefore the doors and windows can't be opened when they are moving.
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Old 22nd June 2013, 21:35   #1792
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Sheesh! I'm tired of driving on the NH 4 near poonamallee!
Worst road! The road is not set properly, there are trucks all over, the taxis and the buses going zig-zag and to make life even worse, Cattles sit on the road & median!
If some american or european drives in this road, they will surely end up with heart attack!

Here's a picture i took today. No lane discipline at all!

Two lanes converted into 3!
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Old 23rd June 2013, 10:20   #1793
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The surface below gives away often in certain areas..

This is an indirect result of converting lakes and lake areas into neighbourhood.

OMR was screwed because of the same reason.
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Old 23rd June 2013, 11:47   #1794
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Originally Posted by headers View Post
The surface below gives away often in certain areas..

This is an indirect result of converting lakes and lake areas into neighbourhood.

OMR was screwed because of the same reason.
For eg: Lake area in Nungambakkam. When it rains cats and dogs, the place becomes a Lake! And, i also see a lot of caving on the roads in Lake area!
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Old 23rd June 2013, 17:44   #1795
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Originally Posted by saadat1992 View Post

For eg: Lake area in Nungambakkam. When it rains cats and dogs, the place becomes a Lake! And, i also see a lot of caving on the roads in Lake area!
Why on earth do you think it is called Lake Area in the first place?

In yesteryears it was a lake bed and catchment area for water to collect. It was also a fine place for ornithologists to spot migratory birds, just lke Pallikaranai and the salt pans area on what is now called the OMR. I was deeply saddened on a visit to Madras a year and a half ago when we drove along the old Velacheri road right up to Tamabaram. The whole stretch which was uninhabited and sylvan, in my college years and even as recently as a short ten to twelve years ago has now become unrecognizable indeed . Right upto the 90's the Lake Area was relatively untouched and was absolutely famous for large and wicked mosquitoes, especially in the rainy season. Close by there was the Valluvar Kottam monument and on the abutting road which went towards Kodambakkam, there was a large open empty ugly area which had become a terrible rubbish dump and was absolutely full of those black pigs.

With increasing urbanization, the cities like Madras and Bangalore are indiscriminately granting permissions to evil builders to build whatever they want, wherever they want. All the lake beds are getting filled up with construction and buildings on account of the depredations of these evil indiscriminate builders and there is nowhere for rain water to collect. Water Management in our country is pretty much non existent and thats one of the reasons we are going to face a massive shortage over the next decade and a half...

As an indicator, the family had a bungalow in Anna Nagar near Chintamani in the 1970's. Just behind that, there was nothing but a vast rolling plain of the traditional Madras Scrub Jungle, which in itself is an endangered species and nowadays only exists in a few pockets like the Anna Univ, IIT, Madras Christian College, Tambaram Airforce base and a few other such spots, nearer to Padappai and Chengalpet. Even the big scrub jungles that used to be around St Thomas Mount and Palavanthangal and Porur are all eaten away...
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Old 23rd June 2013, 17:50   #1796
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

If we go by etymology, any settlement whose name ends with "Pakkam" is either on the banks of a water body or has come up by filling up one! Similarly a city on the sea shore is called "Pattinam" and an inland one "Pattanam!".

Chennai Pattinam; Madurai Pattanam!
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Old 23rd June 2013, 18:37   #1797
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Originally Posted by Gansan View Post
If we go by etymology, any settlement whose name ends with "Pakkam" is either on the banks of a water body or has come up by filling up one! Similarly a city on the sea shore is called "Pattinam" and an inland one "Pattanam!".

Chennai Pattinam; Madurai Pattanam!
Nagattinam too, and Masulipatnam as well...

I understand that the whole Palavanthangal lake and Pallikaranai marshes which used to be home to many migratory birds species, has now become some sort of a super dumping ground for the Chennai garbage. Is this information correct?
I even remember a huge piece of land near Poonamallee which used to be a lake. There was also one such near Koyambedu and another near Aminjikarai en route Anna Nagar.
Red hills and Puzhal were also full of catchment areas.
I am sure that these would have disappeared by now...
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Old 23rd June 2013, 18:53   #1798
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re: Traffic and life on the roads in Chennai

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Originally Posted by Gansan View Post
If we go by etymology, any settlement whose name ends with "Pakkam" is either on the banks of a water body or has come up by filling up one! Similarly a city on the sea shore is called "Pattinam" and an inland one "Pattanam!".

Chennai Pattinam; Madurai Pattanam!
I don't think pattinam and pattanam are different that way. Both are variants of the same thing, which simply means "port city" - starting with I guess Visakhapatnam in the north. Perhaps the inland ones are river ports.
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Old 23rd June 2013, 20:39   #1799
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^^It is applicable only in a Tamil context! Visakapatnam is not a Tamil name! So is Srirangapatna, Channapatna etc!

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Originally Posted by shankar.balan View Post
I understand that the whole Palavanthangal lake and Pallikaranai marshes which used to be home to many migratory birds species, has now become some sort of a super dumping ground for the Chennai garbage. Is this information correct?
I think you mean the Pallavaram lake. I do not remember any lake at Palavanthangal. Pallavaram lake is half it's original size now. Rest has become an SEZ.

Pallikkaranai marsh is a protected area, so the garbage dump is some distance away from it, on the way to Thuraipakkam! But it is only a matter of time beforeit encroaches upon the marsh if things go unchecked.

I think in Kannada too, all place names ending with "kere" were once on the banks of a lake, or were lakes themselves!

Last edited by Eddy : 23rd June 2013 at 21:01. Reason: Merged
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Old 23rd June 2013, 21:50   #1800
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gansan View Post
If we go by etymology, any settlement whose name ends with "Pakkam" is either on the banks of a water body or has come up by filling up one! Similarly a city on the sea shore is called "Pattinam" and an inland one "Pattanam!".

Chennai Pattinam; Madurai Pattanam!
OT: What about the area called 'Pattinampakam' a.k.a foreshore estate?? :P
Has both 'pattinam' and 'pakam' in it!!
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