Chennai is the fourth largest metropolitan city in India. Often known as the Detroit of India, it is widely known for its presence in the automotive industry and has attracted several global automakers to set up their factories in the city, becoming one of the global leaders in the industry.

Apart from automobiles, Chennai has also has development centres established by many software companies which contributed 14% of India's total software exports (US $28.77 billion) during 2006-2007, making it the second-largest exporter of software in the country, behind Bangalore.

Based on all these industrial and technological advancements, Chennai's urban population has risen rapidly, requiring the need for faster and safer transportation at all times. The city already has multiple modes of transportation. A bus system is run by the Chennai MTC and is augmented by the Chennai suburban railway network run by the Southern Railway. In addition to this, the Southern Railway has also implemented the Chennai MRTS project; an elevated railway system was sanctioned in 1984 to ease congestion in central Chennai. However, traffic congestion was still a big problem for both the citizens as well as the city's governing body. Hence, the Chennai Corporation has decided to implement the Chennai Metro project, which will be another alternate transportation mode to a metropolis like Chennai. Corridor 1 is intended to cover the Anna Salai stretch and corridor 2 is intended to cover Poonamalle High Road and Inner Ring Road. Both the corridors have underground and overground structures.

Question 3 (30 marks)

a)Identify at least four functional areas that require close attention by the project planning and coordination department. (15 marks)

[Answer here]

b) Discuss the challenges in each of these functional areas. How would you propose to address these challenges through project planning and coordination? (15 marks)

[Answer here]