The Railway Board is expected to approve the Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s (CMRL) takeover of the MRTS network in about 4-6 weeks.

The project, which has been on the cards for several years, got a boost in July last year when the Railway Board gave the nod for the transfer and merger of MRTS with CMRL.

Sources said a joint proposal in this regard was sent to the board recently and the approval is likely to come by the end of July. “We don’t foresee any delay after this,” a source said.

If this comes through, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Southern Railway and the State government will follow, which will pave the way for the actual takeover and the gradual change of infrastructure and systems in the months to follow.

In April this year, Southern Railway had forwarded the draft MoU to the Railway Board. But subsequently, a joint proposal of the MoU with the concurrence of the State government was asked and that too was sent to the board recently.

Since the estimated cost of the project currently stands at nearly ₹4,500 crore, the State government is mulling various options to seek funding before the MoU is signed.

Six-month delay

Though the deadline was December last year, the signing of this agreement has faced delays as Tamil Nadu government had to wait for the consent from Railways regarding the document.

Commuters who frequently travel in the MRTS system have been anticipating the takeover process for years.

T. Sadagopan, a commuter and an activist said, “ A commuter who takes the train every day yearns for the time when the maintenance and services will get better in MRTS system. We hope there is policy continuity and the State government secures the final approval soon.”