Track-laying work under way at Metro Rail Phase II Project’s Madhavaram Depot

Chennai Metro Rail's Phase II Project includes Madhavaram Depot with ballast-less tracks, aiming for completion by December 2025.

Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has started track-laying work at Madhavaram Depot, the largest such facility in the Phase II Project.

The construction of Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase II Project has been under way for a few years, and the work is expected to continue for at least five years in various locations of Chennai. It will have three corridors — Madhavaram to SIPCOT (corridor 3), Light House to Poonamallee (corridor 4), and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (corridor 5). 

Madhavaram is a key interchange station for the project linking corridors 3 and 5. Hence, a depot will be established here for stationing and periodically maintaining trains to be run on both corridors.

Spread over an area of 68.9 acres, the construction of the Madhavaram Depot has been in progress for several months and the work to lay the tracks for the facility started some time ago. Unlike the Poonamallee Depot, which will have ballasted tracks, the tracks in Madhavaram will be ballast-less, said CMRL officials.

“We have completed laying 2 km of tracks so far. Simultaneously the construction of the administrative building is under way at the site. We hope to complete the track-laying work before December 2025,” an official said.

The depot will have 24 tracks, which will include stabling lines, inspection bays, repair lines, and a test track. “We have begun laying the stabling track now, where the trains will be stationed after their service for the day is completed. The inspection and repair lines will be used to check trains for glitches,” another official said.

While the Madhavaram Depot will be helpful for inducting trains for operations for corridors 3 and 5, the Poonamallee Depot will fill the role for corridor 4. An additional mini-depot is also being planned near Sholinganallur.