The tunneling work for the 45 km long phase 1 project of Chennai Metro Rail will be coming to an end this Monday, almost 6 years after it started. The last of tunnels under phase 1, a 4 km stretch connecting AG-DMS and May Day park is, however, expected to be functional and open to public only by end of 2018.

There are two tunnels connecting AG-DMS and May Day park and the construction of first one was completed in October 18. The 3.3 km stretch under phase 1, from AG-DMS to Saidapet, is expected to be functional from March 2018. The 4 stations in this stretch are AG-DMS, Teynampet,Nandanam and Saidapet.

Although the underground tunneling work started way back in 2012, the work across the Anna Salai stretch from May day park to Saidapet was stalled after a contractor left midway in 2015. This was resumed in 2016.