Chennai finally gets its 1st underground metro rail. The new 7.4 km stretch from Thirumangalam to Nehru Nagar has opened for the travelers as part of Phase 1, traversing along the inner periphery of the city. A project initiated to decongest the traffic ridden roads and to encourage the use of public transport system integrates with the Airport, Bus Transport and Railways. The exclusive advertising rights for CMRL Rolling Stocks (trains) is with JCDecaux. It includes external wraps and internal train branding.

The newly opened underground stretch has carved newer opportunities for the brands to advertise on JCDecaux Media and attain greater visibility. Brands like Vivo, Ford, Fanta, Renault etc. have been regular advertisers on CMRL.

Recently Oppo also joined the league and has been enjoying better coverage from the very start due to opening of the underground stretch. Branded trains travel 25.8 km covering 20 stations reaching a large number of people in the city on both the stretches - elevated as well as underground. The higher dwell time during the travel and good frequency increases the reach and brand recall.

Expressing his joy over the opening of the new underground stretch, JCDecaux India MD, Olivier Heroguelle says, "I would like to congratulate CMRL on opening of the underground stations with which they have increased their coverage and are reaching more people every day. This has opened newer opportunities for the brands to advertise.  We are extremely happy that the brands have placed their trust on JCDecaux Transport Media and are advertising on CMRL Rolling Stocks for better visibility."

The CMRL-JCDecaux contract is for a period of 10 years. It will include 32 stations and 42 trains of the CMRL Project with trains comprising of 4 Car Coaches each.