With the Chennai Metro line between Poonamallee - Porur – Vadapalani set to open to the public on October 11, DMK leader Stalin has issued a statement.
In it, "The Chennai Metro Rail project was launched during the tenure of Leader Kalaignar, when I was the Deputy Chief Minister. For this, I went to Japan at the time and secured funding from JICA, and we carried out this project.
Following this, when the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail was completed, Chennai’s major transport hubs—Airport, Chennai Central Railway Station, and Koyambedu Bus Terminus—were connected, making it a panacea for the city’s growing traffic congestion and a major milestone in the metropolis’s public transportation system. Trains are currently operating on this route up to Wimco Nagar.

In particular, the subsequent AIADMK government, saying, “Chennai does not need a metro rail; a mono rail is enough,” tried to block this project, and when that failed, they later went on to launch the completed works themselves. Moreover, during the 2015 Chennai floods, when roads were submerged and cut off, and lakhs of people traveled to safe places by metro, everyone realized the need for a metro rail in Chennai.
Following this, the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project had slowed down during the previous AIADMK regime for various reasons. Once our Dravidian model government came to power in 2021, we expedited it. Even though the Union Government’s contribution for this had not been released for more than three years, we carried out the work without interruption.
Starting in 2021, whenever I met the Prime Minister in person, I submitted a petition on this matter and continued to urge that the Union Government’s share be released without delay. Despite severe financial constraints, as of September 2024, we continued the second-phase work under our government without interruption, spending a total of Rs. 18,564 crore—Rs. 11,762 crore from the State Government’s own funds and Rs. 6,802 crore through loans from foreign financial institutions.
In particular, in February 2024, I sent a detailed letter on this matter to the Honorable Prime Minister, stating that, as initially promised, the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project should be undertaken on a 50:50 equity basis. I pointed out that carrying it out entirely with the state government's funds would create a severe financial burden on the state government and also delay the work.
Following this, when I met the Prime Minister in person in September 2024, I also spoke about this. It was only after this that, in October, our request was accepted by the Union Government. I also met Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at the Chennai Metro Rail headquarters, thanked him for this, and spoke to him about the need to expedite the completion of the metro expansion.
On various occasions, I personally visited and inspected the second-phase works of the Chennai Metro. Near Madhavaram Milk Colony in Chennai, I inaugurated the tunneling work for a 1.4 km stretch from Madhavaram Milk Colony Metro Station to Madhavaram Highway Metro Station on 13-10-2022, as part of the tunnel construction works for Corridor 3 of Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project.

In February 2025, in the tunnel corridor section from Kelleys to Taramani, I inspected the work from Greenways Road Metro Station to Adyar Junction Metro Station, including the challenging 300-meter stretch passing beneath the Adyar River, and observed the tunneling machine emerging near Adyar Junction Metro Station after covering a total distance of 1.218 km, and encouraged those carrying out this work. In June 2025, I also inspected the 108-foot-high metro bridge, which is emerging as a marvel of construction engineering in Chennai Metro Rail Phase II, on top of the Kathipara flyover in Guindy.
We worked with a dream for the second-phase project works such as Madhavaram – Siruseri, Lighthouse – Poonamallee, Madhavaram – Sholinganallur, and also for the third-phase metro expansion works such as Airport - Kilambakkam, Koyambedu - Pattabiram, Poonamallee - Sunguvarchathiram, Tambaram - Guindy, Lighthouse - High Court, Siruseri - Kalaignar International Arena.
Meanwhile, we also continued efforts to secure approval for the proposal that the Chennai Metro administration itself should take over and operate the MRTS service. That approval has now also been obtained. Just as in Chennai, we fought with the Union government to secure approval for metro systems in Coimbatore and Madurai as well. We revived CUMTA and introduced a system to integrate all of Chennai’s transport facilities and obtain all tickets digitally through a single app called Chennai One.
We made every effort in the Dravidian model government to open the Poonamallee – Porur – Vadapalani corridor, which is scheduled to be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on the 11th, by the end of 2025 itself. However, this could not be done due to the delay in the Railway Board granting approval for the signaling system. In that situation, after the announcement of the Legislative Assembly election was made and the election code of conduct came into force, we were unable to inaugurate it during our tenure as planned.
However, I am deeply happy and satisfied to learn that this route, which the people of Chennai had been eagerly awaiting, is finally set to be put into use. I take maternal pride in seeing the child I carried and nurtured for years—the Chennai Metro Rail—take its first steps.
At this time, a historical incident concerning Valluvar Kottam comes to my mind. The then Dravidian government had fixed a date to inaugurate Valluvar Kottam, which Leader Kalaignar had carefully created, in February 1976. But because the government was dismissed at the end of January for opposing the Emergency, Valluvar Kottam was inaugurated in April by the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The ceremony was held even after removing from there the stone inscription that contained the news that Kalaignar had laid the foundation stone.

At that time, in Murasoli, the Muthamizh Arignar, Kalaignar, wrote a long letter under the title, “The Hall Is Being Opened, the Kural Vision Is Being Created.” In it, he wrote with emotion: “When the beloved little one’s joyous wedding ceremony is taking place, even if there is a certain anguish in the mother’s heart as she stands outside the wedding pavilion unable to witness the tying of the thali, won’t her joy still overflow at the wedding celebration taking place for her dear child? My golden sibling! Today I receive that mother’s joy! I am witnessing with my inner eye the opening ceremony of Valluvar Kottam, one of the goals of my life, and I sing in bliss.” He rejoiced, saying it was the fulfillment of a long-cherished desire and the raising of a banner of joy in his heart.
The phrase mentioned by Leader Kalaignar in that letter still fits perfectly even now. “The place we get in history is not something that can be obtained by privilege! Whatever happens, no matter what happens, it is a place that cannot be hidden! With that same confidence, I am seeing today’s Valluvar Kottam inauguration ceremony with my inner eye” — that is what it says! In the implementation of the Chennai Metro Rail as well, the DMK government’s place will stand firmly in history as a place that can never be erased by anyone.
Not only the Chennai Metro Rail, but all infrastructure development projects seen in Chennai city will bear the name of the DMK government. The development landmarks standing tall in every district will proclaim that modern Tamil Nadu was built during the party’s rule," he noted.
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