Tamil Nadu seeks Centre’s reconsideration on Coimbatore and Madurai Metro Projects

Chennai, India (Metro Rail Today): Tamil Nadu has renewed its efforts to secure metro rail systems for Coimbatore and Madurai after Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Union government to reconsider its earlier rejection of the two projects, a senior state official said.

Following the Chief Minister’s intervention, the state government is preparing to resubmit its case with additional data to counter the Centre’s assessment that projected demand in both cities does not justify metro rail systems. The revised justification has been routed within the state government and will be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for fresh consideration, according to K Gopal, Secretary for Special Projects, and M A Siddique, Managing Director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).

“The Centre’s main concern was that ridership demand is inadequate,” Gopal said. “However, Coimbatore and Madurai are industrial cities with expanding economic activity and growing populations. We have provided detailed data to demonstrate why metro rail is necessary and have reiterated our request.”

The renewed outreach follows the Union ministry’s decision to return the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the Coimbatore and Madurai metro projects, citing non-compliance with the National Metro Rail Policy, 2017. Under the policy, conventional metro systems are generally supported in cities that meet specific population and ridership thresholds, particularly for projects seeking a 50:50 equity-sharing arrangement with the Centre.

In its earlier communication, the ministry stated that both proposals overstated ridership, understated engineering challenges and failed to meet the population norms prescribed under the policy. For Coimbatore, the Centre questioned the projection of around 5.9 lakh daily passengers on a proposed 34-km network, noting that this figure exceeded the ridership recorded on CMRL’s 55-km Phase I system as recently as February 2025.

The appraisal further pointed to short average trip lengths of 6–8 km and road traffic speeds comparable to the proposed metro, suggesting limited potential for a significant modal shift. Concerns were also raised about narrow road widths of 7–12 metres along key corridors, which could complicate the construction of elevated viaducts and 22-metre-wide stations without large-scale demolitions.

A similar assessment was made for Madurai, where the ministry observed that the city’s Comprehensive Mobility Plan favours a bus rapid transit system over a metro. With Madurai also falling short of the population threshold, the Centre argued that lower-cost and more scalable alternatives, such as strengthening the bus network, would offer better value.

Despite these objections, the Tamil Nadu government remains firm that metro rail is essential for the long-term mobility needs of both cities. Officials said the revised submission seeks to place greater emphasis on regional growth patterns, industrial expansion and future travel demand, with the hope that the Centre will take a more holistic view while reassessing the proposals.