Chennai Metro's First Phase II Stretch Opened on 11 October 2026: 14.64 km, 11 Elevated Stations and a 3.7 km Double-Decker Section From Poonamallee to Vadapalani

The first stretch of Chennai Metro’s Phase II opened to passengers at 4 pm on Sunday 11 October 2026. It runs 14.64 km on an elevated viaduct between Poonamallee Bypass and Vadapalani, with 11 stations, and the Prime Minister’s Office puts its cost at around ₹4,900 crore (about ₹49 billion). The Prime Minister inaugurated it, and regular service began the next morning on a 7 am to 9 pm timetable.

Eleven stations from Poonamallee to Vadapalani

The line is the western part of Corridor 4, also called the Yellow Line. DT Next’s list of the 11 open stations, from the western end, is Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Bus Stand, Poonamallee Government Hospital, Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Kattupakkam, Iyyappanthangal, Thelliyaragaram, Porur Bypass, Porur Junction and Vadapalani. Outlets spell several of these names differently.

Before public service began that afternoon, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu rode a train between Porur Bypass and Poonamallee Bypass. The Prime Minister’s Office had scheduled the ride there and back, and Native Planet reports that he bought a paper QR-code ticket at the station.

What the line connects

The Prime Minister’s Office says the stretch is meant to reduce daily travel time and improve links between Chennai’s western suburbs and the city centre. At Vadapalani it meets the existing Corridor 2, the Green Line. DT Next lists Egmore, Chennai Central, Alandur and the airport as destinations passengers can reach through that change. Construction World reported before the opening that a skywalk would join the new platforms to the existing Vadapalani station, with entry and exit works still under way at that point.

DT Next adds that the line should help people reach jobs in western Chennai, including the belt toward Sriperumbudur. Tamil Nadu has more registered factories than any other state, a count set out in tuput’s state profile of Tamil Nadu.

Fares and timetable

Reports before the opening, citing Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), set fares from ₹10 to ₹40. The ride from Poonamallee Bypass to Poonamallee Bus Stand costs ₹10, the middle stations ₹20, Iyyappanthangal and the stations toward Porur ₹30, and the full run from Poonamallee Bypass to Vadapalani ₹40. Native Planet reports a 20 percent discount on most tickets, though not on paper QR tickets bought at station counters, and a cap of ₹50 on journeys that change between Phase I and Phase II lines.

From Monday to Saturday, trains run every 10 minutes at peak hours (8 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm) and every 15 minutes at other times. On Sundays and public holidays they run every 15 minutes from 7 am to 9 pm. The last train leaves both ends at 9 pm.

The double-decker section and the signalling

The Prime Minister’s Office describes a 3.7 km double-decker structure on the corridor. DT Next says it puts transport infrastructure on two levels to make better use of space. Swarajya reported in August 2025 that the double-decker runs along Arcot Road between Alwarthirunagar and Alapakkam, at 3.75 km in that report, and that its second level opens once part of Corridor 5 is working. DT Next adds that the project includes an interchange between Corridors 4 and 5.

The signalling is built for driverless trains. The Prime Minister’s Office calls it advanced signalling designed to support driverless operations, and DT Next lists ATC, ATP and CBTC train-control systems, platform screen doors at stations and a design speed of up to 80 km/h. Indian Infrastructure reports two operators on board for now, with full driverless running due by mid-2027.

Where it sits in Phase II

The Union Cabinet approved Phase II on 3 October 2024 at ₹63,246 crore. It covers three corridors, 118.9 km and 128 stations, and the Cabinet release says it will bring Chennai’s total metro network to 173 km. Corridor 4 runs 26.1 km from Lighthouse to Poonamallee Bypass with 30 stations, so the section that opened is a little over half its length.

CMRL’s project page, updated as of 6 October 2026, counts 76.3 km of Phase II as elevated and 42.6 km as underground. Of its 60 contract packages, 58 have been awarded: all 19 civil and all 5 track packages and 34 of 36 system packages. CMRL says Japan’s aid agency JICA is funding 52.01 km of Corridors 3 and 5. tuput’s piece on India and Japan’s metro and bullet train partnership covers JICA’s metro loans in Delhi.

The rest of the ₹13,000 crore package

The metro was one item in a set of projects worth over ₹13,000 crore that the Prime Minister opened or launched in Chennai that day, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. It lists national highway works of around ₹3,700 crore, including the 36 km four-lane Vadugapatti to Therkuvenganallur section of NH-744 and the 30 km Madurai Ring Road section of NH-744A, both slated for inauguration. Railway projects worth over ₹750 crore included the Karaikal to Peralam line, three rail flyovers around Coimbatore and five redeveloped Amrit stations at Palani, Vellore Cantonment, Ambasamudram, Paramakkudi and Namakkal. The list also covers port projects at Chennai, V.O. Chidambaranar and Kamarajar ports and the foundation stone of a ₹1,620 crore lube oil base stock unit at the Manali refinery.

In his address, the Prime Minister said India’s metro network had grown from about 250 km in 2014 to over 1,100 km. The ministry’s own counts, and how the UITP transit association tallies them, are in tuput’s explainer on India’s metro network.

What comes next

The six stations between Porur Junction and Vadapalani (Alapakkam, Karambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alwarthirunagar, Saligramam and Avichi School) are not yet open, and Swarajya reports that trains bypass them until construction finishes. tuput found no published ridership figure for the new stretch as of 22 October 2026.

The Cabinet release in 2024 planned Phase II for completion by 2027. CMRL’s page now gives the end of 2028 as the target, and says funding for all of Corridor 4 is being pursued from the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank.