Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is a centre-state

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

that built and operates the

Chennai Metro The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Chennai, India. Operated by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) – a joint venture between the Government of India and the State Government of Tamil Nadu, the network consists o ...

. It was established in 2007 and is headquartered in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. CMRL is also involved in the planning and implementation of other metro rail and

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

projects in Tamil Nadu.

History

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

approved the

project in November 2007. Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), a SPV was established in December 2007 as a

between the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and

, and is headquartered in

. In June 2015, commercial operations of the Chennai metro started and the first phase was completed by February 2019. Since 2019, CMRL is involved in the construction of the second phase of the Chennai metro.

Administration and operations

CMRL is headquartered at MetroS building in

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), named for C. N. Annadurai, formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towa ...

Nandanam Nandanam is a neighborhood in Chennai, India. It is located on the northern banks of Adyar River, on the other side of Kotturpuram, and is bound by Saidapet, T. Nagar and Teynampet. In addition to a number of institutions and companies, Nanda ...

. The company is headed by a board consisting of 12 directors, five nominated by Government of India including the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

, five nominated by Government of Tamil Nadu including the

Managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and two full time operational directors. The main operational control center (OCC) is located in

Koyambedu Koyambedu is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India. Situated in the western part of Chennai city, the Koyambedu area has become a major hub of activity in Chennai after the inauguration of the Koyambedu market in 1996 and the Chennai Mofussil Bus ...

where the movement of trains and real-time

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

footage obtained is monitored. , CMRL operates two colour-coded lines covering a length of . Chennai Metro maintains depots at Koyambedu and Wimco Nagar, which house maintenance workshops, stabling lines, test tracks and washing plant for the trains.

Other projects

CMRL will take over

Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System The Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System, commonly referred to as Chennai MRTS, is a metropolitan rail transit system in Chennai, India. It is operated by Southern Railway of the state-owned Indian Railways. Opened in 1995, it was the first elev ...

(MRTS) system from Southern Railway once the under construction expansion of MRTS is complete. It is also involved in the planning of

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

and extension of metro in Chennai. CMRL also undertakes other projects including the development of metro rail transport in the cities of

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

. It has also proposed the development of Central Square around CMRL headquarters with commercial complexes and multi-storied buildings.

References

{{Chennai Metro Rapid transit companies of India Railway companies established in 2007 Indian companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in Tamil Nadu