CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has renewed its push for metro rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai after Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the centre to reconsider its rejection of the two projects, a senior state official said.
Following the CM’s intervention, the state is set to resubmit its case, furnishing additional material to counter the centre’s assessment that demand in the two cities does not justify metro systems. The revised justification has been routed to the state government and will be forwarded to the centre for fresh consideration, said K Gopal, secretary for special projects and Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) managing director M A Siddique.
“The centre’s main concern was that ridership demand is inadequate,” Gopal said. “But Coimbatore and Madurai are industrial cities with expanding economic activity and a growing population. We have provided detailed data to demonstrate why metro rail is necessary and have re-emphasised our request,” he added.
The renewed outreach follows a decision by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs to return Tamil Nadu’s detailed project reports (DPRs) of metro projects for both cities, citing non-compliance with the 2017 Metro Rail Policy.
In the communication from the union ministry at the time of rejection that was accessed by TNIE earlier, the ministry had said both proposals overstated ridership, understated engineering challenges and failed to meet population thresholds required for metro planning under a 50:50 equity-sharing model with the centre.
For Coimbatore, the ministry questioned projections of 590,000 daily passengers on a proposed 34-km network — higher than ridership recorded by CMRL’s 55-km Phase I system as recently as February 2025. Short average trip lengths of 6-8km and road traffic speeds comparable to the proposed metro were cited as limiting the likelihood of a modal shift.
The appraisal also flagged narrow road widths of 7-12 metres along key corridors, raising concerns over the feasibility of elevated viaducts and 22-metre-wide stations without extensive demolitions. A similar assessment was made for Madurai, where the ministry said the city’s comprehensive mobility plan points to a bus rapid transit system rather than a metro as the appropriate solution. With Madurai also falling below the population threshold, the centre argued that lower-cost, scalable alternatives such as bus network augmentation would deliver better value.