Chennai: More than 133 hectares of land associated with the city’s Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) will revert to the Tamil Nadu govt as part of the transfer of the system from Southern Railway. This includes govt-owned and privately acquired parcels used for different phases of MRTS, including stations, parking lots, booking offices and other passenger amenities.The transfer is part of a wider arrangement under which the state will take over MRTS assets and general operations within 90 days, while Southern Railway will continue core train operations and maintenance for 24 months. Stations, lifts and escalators, viaducts, tracks, signalling, telecom systems and overhead electrification will also be transferred, with the state required to pay for the depreciated value of railways-funded infrastructure.The largest parcels include 22.04 hectares of govt land and 0.541 hectares of private land used for Phase I between Beach and Thirumayilai, and 98.93 hectares of govt land and 5.21 hectares acquired through the Urban Land Ceiling Act used for Phase II between Mandaveli and Velachery. Another 4.60 hectares of private land acquired for Phase II will revert to the state, along with land parcels acquired for the Phase-II extension between Puzhuthivakkam and St Thomas Mount.“The land includes those on either side of the MRTS track. This also includes unused land below elevated MRTS lines. Much of the land used for MRTS was given by the state govt,” a railway official said.The MoU has a separate arrangement for 1.296 hectares of railways-owned land used by MRTS. It will be leased to the state at 1.5% of market value annually, with a 6% annual escalation. The actual area will be jointly surveyed and demarcated before the transition ends.The latest MoU between Southern Railway and the state comes 15 years after the merger was first proposed in 2011. CUMTA is coordinating a separate MoU between the state and CMRL for the eventual handover of MRTS to the metro agency.
