Chennai: Passengers arriving at the airport by metro rail will soon be able to access the domestic and international terminals in a seamless manner as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started work on building a walkalator tube that will be installed under a flyover running in front of the terminals.The steel and glass tube that will run parallel to the terminals through the spokes under the bridge will house walkalators so that people who reach the airport by metro rail can conveniently access the domestic and international departure and arrival terminals.The work on the steel and glass tube has begun because a contract has been awarded to a company to install the walkalator which will help passengers coming by metro to access the two terminals without coming out of the airport metro station.A senior official of AAI said, "The work on the steel and glass frame has begun because it has to be made ready when the company completes assembling the machines. The machines will be assembled as per the specifications of the length and breadth of the tube. It will take sometime for the machines to be put together."The area under the flyover has been cordoned off and pieces of steel frames for the tube have been unloaded. These frames will be installed in the coming days after which the outer casing will be fabricated and installed.A tube from the airport metro rail station meant to connect to the walkalator has been completed along with the station building. It connects the first floor concourse area of the metro station to the walkalator tube that is being built.People will be able to use lifts to get down from the walkalator tubes to reach the arrival terminals on the ground floor. Lifts are already in place. There are also plans to allow check-in at the metro rail station so that people who arrive by metro rail trains can print boarding passes and walk into the airport.The project was stalled for more than three years after it was dropped from the airport expansion plan due to cost escalation. A year ago, the AAI board approved the project and said that it should be completed before work begins for phase II expansion of the airport.

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