Chennai Metro Rail Limited has invited tenders for two detailed project reports that would extend its network south to Chengalpattu and north to Wimco Nagar, reflecting a second wave of expansion beyond corridors under construction. The studies cover a roughly 27 km southern extension and an 11 km northern extension, and the tenders carry modest preliminary costs expressed in million (mn) amounts as part of preparatory work.

The larger study covers a roughly 27 km extension of the planned Kilambakkam metro station to Chengalpattu under Corridor-1 (Phase I) and has been floated at an estimated cost of Rs 21.6 mn. The proposed link would extend the Chennai Airport?Kilambakkam project, for which a DPR was submitted to the state government in February 2025. That 15.46 km elevated corridor, including an elevated road, is designed to link Chennai Airport with the Kilambakkam bus terminus via 13 stations and is budgeted at Rs 93.35 billion (bn).

The second tender, at Rs 8.8 mn, covers an 11 km extension of Corridor?5 (Phase II) running from Assisi Nagar to Wimco Nagar in north Chennai and is intended to strengthen metro connectivity in the northern belt by linking into the existing Wimco Nagar metro station. Plans envisage recasting Wimco Nagar as a transport interchange where Indian Railways, Chennai Metro and the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority will converge to integrate suburban, regional and urban mobility at a single node.

Both DPRs are expected to be completed within four months, according to sources, while the Metro Rail authority indicated that it is awaiting clearance from the centre before proceeding to project approvals. The tender notices set out scopes and timelines for the detailed studies and position the extensions as preparatory steps pending required clearances and funding decisions.