Trains with four coaches may start zipping across the much-awaited Chennai Metro Rail from Koyambedu to St Thomas Mount by the end of 2013.

The Metro Rail project, Chennai's hope of a super-fast transport network, "is going ahead as per schedule" and work on the 13-km stretch between Koyambedu and St Thomas Mount is likely to be completed by end of 2013, according to a senior government official.

"We should start services on the 13-km-stretch in another two-and-a-half years," the official said. Piers are being erected for the 4km stretch from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar and the 9km line between Ashok Nagar and SIDCO Industrial estate.

Source: TNN