The Union housing ministry has again rejected Tamil Nadu's attempt to revive metro rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai, dismissing the state's arguments on ridership, travel-time savings and population thresholds in a detailed rebuttal that leaves both projects in limbo.
The rejection is the second issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). While an earlier appraisal, before Tamil Nadu submitted its rebuttal in May, argued that both cities fell short of the two-million population benchmark under the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, the ministry's latest assessment responds point by point to Chennai Metro Rail Ltd's (CMRL) counter-arguments and introduces a fresh objection.
In a July 22 letter to the state's chief secretary, MoHUA said Tamil Nadu's decision not to participate in the Centre's PM e-Bus Sewa scheme has deprived Coimbatore and Madurai of the feeder bus networks needed to generate viable metro ridership. It disputed almost every technical justification advanced by CMRL, arguing that the detailed project reports overstate the case for elevated metro rail over less expensive bus-based alternatives.
At the heart of the dispute is whether Tamil Nadu's second- and third-largest cities generate sufficient demand and travel-time savings to justify metro systems, or whether upgraded bus rapid transit systems (BRTS) could deliver similar benefits at a fraction of the cost.
The ministry rejected CMRL's estimate that a metro would reduce a 7.5-km peak-hour journey by eight minutes, or 35%, compared with road transport. Once walking time to stations, waiting time and access at the destination are included, it said, "there will be hardly any savings in time by metro". It added that significant time and cost savings generally influence commuters only on trips exceeding 15 km, well above the average journey lengths cited by CMRL for both cities.
A senior government official said the ministry's position reflects lessons from smaller cities where metro systems have struggled to attract passengers. Journey times in such cities are already relatively short, the official said, and once commuters account for the time spent reaching elevated stations and exiting them at the destination, the overall time advantage over road transport largely disappears. That has contributed to weak ridership in cities such as Indore and explains the Centre's increasing reluctance to approve metro systems for smaller urban centres.
MoHUA was equally unconvinced by CMRL's ridership projections. It noted that the state had projected higher patronage for Coimbatore's comparatively short corridor than for Chennai's much larger metro network while acknowledging that the city's bus system remains underdeveloped. A metro without adequate feeder buses and last-mile connectivity "cannot fetch ridership", the ministry said.
The ministry repeatedly linked this weakness to Tamil Nadu's decision not to join the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, arguing that the programme could have strengthened bus fleets in Coimbatore and Madurai and provided the feeder services essential for metro operations.
On population, MoHUA rejected the state's reliance on 2022 planning estimates of 2.97 million for Coimbatore and 2.915 million for Madurai to satisfy the Metro Rail Policy's eligibility criteria. The ministry said the 2011 Census remains the appropriate benchmark, under which Coimbatore Municipal Corporation has a population of only 1.584 million. Much of the wider local planning area population, it argued, is unlikely to use a metro network largely confined to the corporation limits.
The ministry also highlighted implementation risks. It noted that the state had acknowledged right of way of less than 20 metres along sections of the proposed Coimbatore corridors, implying substantial demolition during construction. It also pointed to Chennai Metro as a cautionary example: Phase I, sanctioned in 2009, took a decade to complete, while Phase II, launched in 2020, has achieved only 54.62% physical progress.
MoHUA stressed that it had no objection in principle to either at-grade or elevated BRTS and reiterated that population alone is not the sole criterion for metro approval. However, after examining the proposals in their entirety, it said both DPRs had been returned.
Tamil Nadu renewed its push for the projects earlier this year after then chief minister M.K. Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking reconsideration of the Centre's earlier rejection. The issue also figured during Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's review of metro rail projects on July 22.
Shreya Gadepalli, an urban mobility expert, said evidence from Indian cities suggests metro rail has not adequately addressed mobility needs in many tier-two cities.
"A small metro network may look impressive, but it is expensive to build and does not provide the extensive connectivity most urban residents require," she said. "A high-quality bus system with a large fleet of air-conditioned buses costs a fraction of a metro while serving every part of the city. Combined with dedicated bus lanes through congested stretches, it can deliver fast and reliable services comparable to metro rail."
She said Coimbatore should aspire to a "triple-five" bus network, enabling residents to walk to a bus stop within five minutes, wait no more than five minutes for a bus and complete their journey with minimal delay.
Factfile:1. MoHUA says metro's 8-minute edge over road claimed by CMRL vanishes once station access/egress and waiting time are counted in
2. Ministry cites underdeveloped city bus networks in Coimbatore and Madurai as a barrier to metro ridership — echoing Indore's experience, per official sources
3. Tamil Nadu's non-participation in the Centre's PM e-Bus Sewa scheme flagged repeatedly as a missed chance to fix last-mile connectivity
4. MoHUA rejects 2022 projections (Coimbatore: 29.7 lakh; Madurai: 29.15 lakh), says 2011 Census remains the valid base — puts Coimbatore's core city population at just 15.84 lakh
5. Chennai Metro cited as cautionary benchmark — Phase I took 10 years (2009-19); Phase II, launched 2020, only 54.62% complete
6. Both DPRs "returned after examining the proposal in entirety"; MoHUA open to BRTS instead, signalling no new metro sanctions for smaller cities
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