Udhayanidhi Stalin, Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development, conducted inspections at various Metro Rail construction sites on Sunday to evaluate the project’s status and its impact on city traffic.

The DMK government approved the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) project in 2007 to reduce traffic congestion and minimize travel time, making travel more seamless. The first phase was initiated by the then Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin.

To enhance connectivity, the State government is advancing the second phase of Metro Rail construction. As part of this initiative, Udhayanidhi inspected the Poonamallee depot, which is being developed on 40.5 acres at a cost of Rs 187 crore. The depot includes 17 buildings such as an administration wing, workshop, warehouse, train parking facility, testing track, and an automatic train washing system. The facility is planned to maintain up to 56 trains of 6 coaches each.

Approximately 82% of the construction work at the depot has been completed, with the remaining work, including the train parking facility and testing track, expected to be finished within the next six months.

Udhayanidhi also reviewed the progress of construction at the Royapettah Metro station, which is being built at a cost of Rs 250 crore. The station will be 150 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 21.5 meters deep.

Additionally, the minister launched the tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Bhavani’ for constructing an underground station from Royapettah to Dr. RK Salai, covering a distance of 910 meters. He also inspected the construction of the double-decker Metro Rail at Alapakkam.