Chennai Metro Corridor 4 Starts at 6 am: A Station by Station Check for Flat Buyers

On October 21, 2026, ten days after the first trains ran on the Yellow Line between Poonamallee Bypass and Vadapalani, Chennai Metro Rail Limited issued a short notice. Based on commuter feedback, it said, services on Corridor 4 would start at 6 am instead of 7 am from Friday, October 23. It is a small change on paper. For a family weighing a flat near Porur or Kattupakkam on the promise of a metro commute, it is the kind of detail that turns a brochure line into a timetable you can test.

PropNewz first reported the opening in our October 18 note on Corridor 4. Three weeks into operations, the official releases now give buyers enough to check commute claims station by station, including which stations have parking.

The short answer. CMRL started regular passenger services on the roughly 15 km Poonamallee Bypass to Vadapalani section on October 11, 2026, across 11 elevated stations. From October 23, trains run from 6 am to 9 pm in both directions, every 10 minutes at weekday peaks and every 15 minutes otherwise, with no peak service on Sundays and holidays. Two of the 11 stations, Poonamallee Bus Stand and Porur Bypass, have no parking listed. The trade-off: an operating metro line is a real, checkable benefit, but a 9 pm last train and 15 minute off-peak gaps may not suit every household's routine.

What is running on Corridor 4 right now?

According to CMRL press release 66/2026 dated October 10, 2026, regular metro passenger services began on October 11, 2026 on Corridor 4 of Phase 2, covering 11 elevated stations over approximately 15 km from Poonamallee Bypass to Vadapalani. The stations named are Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Bus Stand, Poonamallee Government Hospital, Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Kattupakkam, Iyappanthangal, Thelliyaragaram, Porur Bypass, Porur Junction and Vadapalani.

On the first day, services ran from 4 pm to 9 pm. From October 12, the release said, regular services would run from 7 am to 9 pm in both directions.

The releases refer to this stretch as Corridor 4, the Yellow Line, and the parking list calls it Line 04. All three names point to the same 11 stations. CMRL itself is the special purpose vehicle created by the Government of Tamil Nadu to implement the Chennai Metro Rail Project, incorporated on December 3, 2007 under the Companies Act, according to its Phase II page. Its press releases are the primary record for service dates and timings, so quote them, not a brochure, when you compare projects.

What changed on October 23?

CMRL press release 68/2026 dated October 21, 2026 advanced the start time to 6 am with effect from October 23, 2026, citing feedback from commuters. CMRL said the revised timing was meant to provide greater convenience and to facilitate early morning travel towards Vadapalani and Poonamallee. Services now run from 6 am to 9 pm in both directions on the 15 km section, and the last train departs at 9 pm from both Poonamallee Bypass and the Corridor 4 Vadapalani station.

The timetable applies Monday to Saturday for the peak and non-peak bands. Peak hours are 8 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm, with trains every 10 minutes. Non-peak bands, now from 6 am to 8 am, 11 am to 5 pm and 8 pm to 9 pm, have trains every 15 minutes.

Which Corridor 4 stations have parking?

This is where station choice starts to matter. CMRL's parking facilities list, effective October 11, 2026, shows the following for the Line 04 stations. Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Government Hospital, Kattupakkam and Thelliyaragaram have both two-wheeler and four-wheeler parking listed as available. Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Iyappanthangal and Porur Junction list two-wheeler parking but no four-wheeler parking. Poonamallee Bus Stand and Porur Bypass list no parking for either.

The same list shows Vadapalani with two-wheeler parking available and no four-wheeler parking. For a buyer, this changes the meaning of the phrase near the metro. A flat that is a short walk from Porur Bypass is a different proposition from one that is a short drive from it, because the list shows no parking there. If you plan to drive or ride to the station, check the station you would actually use, not just the nearest one on the map.

How do the 11 stations compare for a daily commuter?

It helps to group them using only what CMRL has published. Going by the order in the October 10 release, the line runs from Poonamallee Bypass through the three Poonamallee stops, then Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Kattupakkam, Iyappanthangal and Thelliyaragaram, before reaching Porur Bypass, Porur Junction and Vadapalani at the city end.

Four stations, Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Government Hospital, Kattupakkam and Thelliyaragaram, list parking for both cars and two-wheelers. If your household expects to drive to the station, these are the stops where the official list supports that plan. Four more, Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Iyappanthangal and Porur Junction, list two-wheeler parking only, so a car commute to these stops depends on arrangements outside CMRL's list. Poonamallee Bus Stand and Porur Bypass list neither, which makes walking, a drop off or a feeder connection the realistic options there.

None of this says one locality is better than another. It says the practical commute differs by stop, and a buyer comparing two projects a similar distance from the line may find that the station each one depends on works very differently on a weekday morning. Write down which station each shortlisted project would use before you compare prices.

How should a buyer test a metro claim in a project brochure?

Brochures tend to describe distance to the nearest station. What matters to a household is the door to door commute at the hours you actually travel. The official timetable lets you test that. If your working day starts before 7 am, the October 23 change helps. If you return after 9 pm, the line as it runs today does not cover that leg, and the brochure distance does not change that fact.

Frequency also matters. Outside the weekday peaks and on Sundays, trains are 15 minutes apart. A short walk to the station plus a 15 minute wait is a different commute from the one a brochure implies when it says minutes from the metro.

Walk the route yourself, ideally on a working weekday rather than a weekend site visit. Go to the station you would use at the hour you would use it, note the walk time from the project gate, check the parking situation against the CMRL list, and ride to your destination once. That is a cheap test before a large commitment.

1. Identify the exact Corridor 4 station you would use daily.
2. Check that station's parking against the CMRL parking list.
3. Compare your travel hours with the 6 am to 9 pm window.
4. Factor in 15 minute gaps outside weekday peak hours.
5. Walk from the project gate to the station at commute time.
6. Ride the line once to your workplace or school.
7. Keep the brochure's metro claim and compare it with your notes.

Is the wider network being used?

CMRL's monthly figures suggest the network is well used, though they cover the whole system rather than Corridor 4 alone. A CMRL release dated October 1, 2026 said 1,00,26,601 passengers travelled on Chennai Metro between September 1 and September 30, 2026, before Corridor 4 opened, and that September 11 recorded the month's highest single day flow at 3,93,580 passengers. The same release noted a 20 percent discount on NCMC card and digital QR ticketing services, excluding single journey paper QR tickets bought at counters.

These are system wide numbers. They do not tell you how crowded the Yellow Line will be at Porur at 8:30 am. For that, the only reliable test is to see it yourself.

What else should a buyer near the new line check?

If you are buying close to the alignment, construction rules near metro structures can also matter, especially for independent houses, plotted developments or any project that involves deep excavation. PropNewz explained the CMRL protection zone and the no objection certificate rules in our guide to the Chennai Metro protection zone. For an apartment, ask the developer whether any such clearance applied to the project and ask to see it.

Treat station opening as the start of the story, not the end. Services, timings and facilities can change, as the October 23 revision shows. Before you sign, check the latest notices on the CMRL website again, including the press release and parking pages, and rely on what is running on the day you decide rather than on announcements of what may come.

Frequently asked questions

When did Chennai Metro Corridor 4 open between Poonamallee and Vadapalani?

According to CMRL press release 66/2026, regular passenger services began on October 11, 2026 on the roughly 15 km section from Poonamallee Bypass to Vadapalani, covering 11 elevated stations. On the first day, trains ran from 4 pm to 9 pm in both directions before the regular timetable started.

What are the current Corridor 4 metro timings?

From October 23, 2026, CMRL advanced the first train to 6 am, so services run from 6 am to 9 pm in both directions. Weekday peak trains run every 10 minutes from 8 to 11 am and 5 to 8 pm; other times, including Sundays and holidays, every 15 minutes.

Which Corridor 4 stations have no parking?

CMRL's parking list, effective October 11, 2026, shows no two-wheeler or four-wheeler parking at Poonamallee Bus Stand and Porur Bypass. Karayanchavadi, Kumananchavadi, Iyappanthangal and Porur Junction list two-wheeler parking only, while Poonamallee Bypass, Poonamallee Government Hospital, Kattupakkam and Thelliyaragaram list both types.

Does the Chennai Metro ridership figure cover Corridor 4?

No. CMRL's October 1, 2026 release reported 1,00,26,601 passengers for September 2026, before Corridor 4 services began on October 11. It is a system wide figure for the whole network and does not show crowding on any single line, station or time of day.

Last updated 2026-10-31. PropNewz Team.