CMRL to Take Over Chennai MRTS by December 2027

29 Sep 2025 CW Team

The Tamil Nadu government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Railways in December for Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to take over the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). The transfer is expected to be completed by December 2027.

At a high-level meeting on Monday, the state government gave in-principle approval for assigning the operation, management, and maintenance of the MRTS to CMRL. The Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Chennai was also approved and is scheduled for rollout this week. The MoU will be signed after concurrence from the Railways, expected in December.

“The minutes of the meeting on the Comprehensive Mobility Plan have been drafted and sent to the government. The next discussions with the Railways will take place later this week or early next week,” a source said.

After years of consideration, the Railways granted approval for the takeover in July 2025. Since then, Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has been coordinating with the Tamil Nadu government, CMRL, and the Railways to accelerate the project. CUMTA and CMRL are finalising the detailed project report.

Commuters have long demanded this project, noting that MRTS was designed for 650,000 passengers daily but currently carries only around 80,000, highlighting underutilisation and operational inefficiencies.

Infrastructure Urban

02 Jun 2026

VECV Sales Rise 7.8 Per Cent In May 2026

VE Commercial Vehicles recorded sales of 7,978 units in May 2026, compared to 7,401 units in May 2025, registering growth of 7.8 per cent. This included 7,789 units from the Eicher brand and 189 units from the Volvo brand.Eicher branded trucks and buses reported sales of 7,789 units during the month, up 7.3 per cent from 7,258 units a year earlier. In the domestic commercial vehicle market, Eicher sales rose 9.1 per cent to 7,375 units from 6,758 units in May 2025.Exports declined 17.2 per cent to 414 units from 500 units in the corresponding month last year. Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses recor..

Table Space Strengthens DESYN Leadership Team

Table Space has announced strategic leadership appointments within DESYN, its integrated Design and Build business, as it looks to strengthen operations across key enterprise and GCC markets in India. DESYN was launched as a strategic extension of Table Space’s workspace solutions portfolio to meet rising demand for agile, high-quality and rapidly deployable enterprise workspaces.Shruti Ookabhoy has joined DESYN as Executive Director and will lead the Design vertical, focusing on design capability, operational excellence and team development across markets. She brings over 22 years of experi..

Concord Associate Bags Rs 2.79 Bn Kavach Order

Concord Control Systems said its associate company, Progota India, has received a Rs 2.79 bn domestic order from Indian Railways for the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of on-board Kavach 4.0 loco equipment.The order is scheduled for execution within 12 months and strengthens Concord’s role in India’s railway safety and signalling ecosystem. Kavach is India’s indigenous automatic train protection system, designed to improve operational safety by helping prevent signal passing at danger and reducing collision risks.Gaurav Lath, Joint Managing Director, Concord Control Syst..