between Kasturba Nagar and Manali Road. The system was envisaged as a loop line passing through Chennai Beach and Tiruvottiyur. In the 1980s, the government began planning for a new railway line inside the city. The suburban lines offered no connectivity to Central and South Madras (as the city was known then). Planning began in 1984. Since the rail line passes through congested parts of the city, an elevated rail system with an alignment along the Buckingham Canal was selected, as it would avoid land-acquisition problems. The MTP intended to implement the project in four phases: First phase: From Beach to Tirumailai (Mylapore) Second phase: From Tirumailai to St. Thomas Mount Third phase: From St. Thomas Mount to Villivakkam Fourth phase: From Villivakkam to Ennore Fifth phase from Perungudi MRTS station to Kalpakkam via Mamallapuram However, the current line is slated to not extend past St. Thomas Mount, as the Chennai Metro project is slated to use a similar alignment. Construction and opening Although the present system was planned in the 1970s and the 1980s, the project was taken up for implementation by the Government of India, Ministry of Railways in 1983–84 at an estimated cost of 534.6 million, it took nearly a decade for the first phase to construct and begin operation. Construction began in earnest in 1991. After many delays, the first phase was operational from Beach up to Chepauk in 1995 as the first elevated railway line in India, and it was extended to Thirumayilai station in Mylapore in 1997. When the first phase between Chennai Beach and Thirumyilai opened in 1997, the project cost 2,690 million, compared to the initial estimate of 550 million in 1984. The patronage of the first phase turned out to be way lesser than the over-reckoned value of 603,000 passengers per day. In 1998, the Railway Board accorded sanction of executing Phase II of the project from Thirumayilai to Velachery. The second phase of the project was taken up on the basis of the study conducted by RITES during 1987 and 1994 and taking into account population growth and the capacity of public transport system. The MRTS services were extended from Thirumaylai to Thiruvanmiyur on 27 June 2004, as part of its second phase. On 19 November 2007, the network was further extended from Thiruvanmiyur to Velachery at a cost of 7,690 million. The extended second phase of the project, connecting