Southern Railways plans to extend chennai MRTS till st. Thomas Mount by 2022 and tenders for the construction of last 500m will be floated soon with a construction time of 18 months. 28 December 2021 Indian Railways Plans to operationalize this phase 2-B stretch within 2022 01 November 2022 Southern Railways - MRTS connectivity from Velachery to St Thomas Mount to be ready by March 2023 Infrastructure Route The Chennai MRTS route is largely elevated, with at-grade sections at its terminals. From Beach to Chennai Park Town station, the line runs at grade, parallel to the suburban railway network. Following Chennai Park Town station, the line's first phase becomes elevated and follows the course of the Buckingham Canal, which runs parallel to the Coromandel Coast. The line remains elevated for the alignment of the second phase up to Perungudi, after which it returns to an at-grade section at Velachery. The line from Chennai Beach to Velachery is elevated and at surface. The ongoing extension of the line from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount is also elevated. Minor change in the alignment In 2001, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) proposed a realignment of the MRTS route to St. Thomas Mount and combined it with the Inner Ring Road because it faced difficulties with land acquisition. The Government of Tamil Nadu accepted it in 2006, and an order confirming the changes was passed. About 186 hectares of land that were frozen from development till then were released. However, the alignment was changed further as the Department of Highways deviated from the approved alignment of the Inner Ring Road without consulting the CMDA or the Metropolitan Transport Project (MTP–Railways). These resulted in a deviation of the MRTS alignment in the order of . Stations Snaking through the central region of Chennai, the alignment covers several significant landmarks of the city and currently has 18 stations. The Chennai Beach station is a hub terminal for several suburban trains, and, along with Chennai Fort station, it serves the commercial locations of Broadway and Parry's Corner. Chennai Park Town station is located opposite Chennai Central, which is a hub for both long-distance express trains and suburban trains. Places of tourist interests such as Parthasarathy Temple and Kapaleeshwarar Temple are located close to Thiruvallikeni and Thirumayilai MRTS stations, respectively. Marina Beach spans along the stretch of the Thiruvallikeni and Light House stations, in addition to the