In order to minimise land requirements for Metro stations, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has decided that it will build future stations using a cantilever-based design along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), also known as Rajiv Gandhi Salai or the IT Expressway.

The cantilever design, pioneered by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), features a station that is built on a single pillar in the centre and suspended. The entire station structure is built atop the same pillars as the tracks and only the entrances and exits require land acquisition at the side of the road.

CMRL has planned 27 stations along its OMR line in the second phase of the project with all of them featuring the new design. It also plans to use this design to build six stations as part of the first phase’s extension from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar in North Chennai