Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has scrapped its earlier plan to build Tambaram metro station on Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road and will now construct it inside the Tambaram railway junction premises. The move, prompted by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), aims to ensure better multimodal integration. The new station will take over the parking lot and autorickshaw lanes near the main western entrance of the railway station, allowing smoother transfers between suburban and metro services. With more south-bound trains now originating from Tambaram and major express trains such as Tejas and Vande Bharat halting there, the railway station's footfall is expected to surge. Many of these passengers will carry heavy luggage, so walking distance to the metro should be minimal. The metro entry should ideally be close to the 450-500m foot overbridge currently being built by the railways,' said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident-activist from Tambaram. Meanwhile, CMRL finalised the site for Kilambakkam station as well. A two-level metro station will come up directly opposite the Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus (KCBT) on vacant land. These two stations-Tambaram and Kilambakkam-will serve as key transit points on the Airport-Kilambakkam extension of Phase I, aimed at strengthening connectivity to the city's southern suburbs. The 52.94-km proposed Poonamallee-Parandur extension will pass through Chembarambakkam, Thandalam, Irungattukottai, Sriperumbudur, and Sunguvarchatram, ending at the upcoming Greenfield airport. This corridor will have 20 elevated stations and is estimated to cost ?15,906 crore. To optimise timelines and budgets, the first phase from Poonamallee to Sunguvarchatram, covering 27.90 km with 14 stations, will be taken up first at a cost of ?8,779 crore.
 

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