Metro iRail iin iIndia

Rapid itransits iin iIndia iconsist iof iMetro, iMonorails iand ilight irail isystem. iThe ifirst
irapid itransits isystem iin iIndia iwas iKolkata iMetro, iwhich istarted ioperations ii i1984.
i'Elattuvalapil iSreedharan', ipopularly iknown ias iMetro iMan iwas ibehind ithis igreat
ieffort. iThe imetro irail isystem iin iIndia iis ipopularized iand ideveloped idue ito ihis
iamazing iefforts iand ihard iwork.
Delhi iMetro iwas iIndia's ifirst imodern imetro iwhich ibegan iits ioperation iin i2002.
iRapid iMetro iRail iGurgaon, iwhich istarted ioperatioons iin iNovember i2013, iis
iIndia's ifirst iprivately iowned i& ioperated imetro.
Metro irail ilines iin iIndia iis icomposed iof iboth istandard igauges iand ibroad igauges.
iProject ilikes iin iDelhi iMetro iused ibroad iguage ifor itheir iearliest ilines ibut imost
iof ithe inew iproject iin iIndia iare ion iStandard igauges ias irolling istock iis iimported
ifrom iEurope iis ion iStandard iGauges. iOne iexception iis iAhemdabad iMetro, iwhich
ihas iplanned ito iuse ibroad igauges, ias ithere iis imore ispace iavailable iinside ithe
icoaches.

Growing icities, igrowing ipopulation iand igrowing itraffic ihas iinvariably icalled ifor ia
ishift ifrom iprivate imodes iof iconveyance ito ipublic itransport. iA iglance iat ithe iworld's
ideveloping inations iindicates ithat iwell iplanned iMass iRapid iTransit iSystems i(MRTS)
iexist isuccessfully. iIndia i(like imany iother ideveloping icountries) ihowever ihas ilagged
ibehind ithough iits ifirst imetro, ithe iKolkata iMetro, istarted iworking ialmost i25 iyears
iago. iThe ireasons icould ibe iattributed ito ilack iof ifunds iplanning ias iis iknown ithat
isuch iprojects irequire ihuge icapital iinvestments, ia ilong igestation iperiod iand icomplex
itechnology. iOther ireasons icould iinclude ithe ilack iof iintegration ibetween ivarious
isystems iof imass itransportation iand ithe iabsence iof icomprehensive itraffic iand
itransportation iplanning. iWhile iresearches ishow ithat ithe iideal imodal ishare iof ipublic
itransport ishould ibe iaround i70%, ihowever iit iis iin itune ito ionly i35%–40% iin iIndia's
imetro icities. iIndia iis ilooking ito icreate ia iworld iclass iinfrastructure iwith iits iexistent
iKolkata iand iDelhi iMetros iwith ithe iaddition iof iMumbai, iBengaluru, iHyderabad,
iChennai, iJaipur, iand iKochi imetros iin ithe inext ifew iyears iwhile iproposals ifor iMRTS
ifor iPune, iChandigarh, iAhmedabad, iKanpur, iLudhiana, iBhopal, iIndore iand iFaridabad
iare ibeing ichalked iout.
With irapid iurbanization, ithe ipressure iis imounting ion ithe ipublic itransport isystem ifrom
ithe i ipeople iliving iin icities iand itowns iacross ithe icountry. iMass iRapid iTransport
iSystem, iMRTS ihas iemerged ias ione iof ithe i imost ieffective imeans iof imobility ifor ithe
icitizens iin itier-1 iand itier-2 icities iand iMetro ihas ibeen ia imajor iplayer. i

Metro iToday- i

Currently i585 ikm iof iMetro ilines iare ioperational. i iApproximately ianother i60 ikm iof
imetro ilines iare ilikely ito ibe iopened iin ithe inext ione imonth iin ithe icities iof
iAhmedabad, iLucknow, iNagpur iand iGhaziabad. i i

With ia imodest ibeginning iwith i8 ikm iin i2002, imodern imetro irail ihave ishown
iphenomenal igrowth iin ithe icountry.

In ithe icurrent ifinancial iyear i(2018-19), i140 ikm iof imetro ilines ihave ibeen iopened ifor
ithe ipublic i(till i10 iFebruary i2019). i i

Out iof ithe i585 ikm iof ioperational imetro ilines ias ion i10 iFebruary i2019, i326 ikm ihave
ibeen imade ioperational iafter iMay i2014.

Since iMay i2014, i258 ikm iof imetro iline ihave ibeen isanctioned iby ithe iGovt. iof iIndia.

Currently ithere iis iabout i600 ikm iof isanctioned imetro ilines iunder iconstruction iwhich
iwill ibe ioperational iin inext ifive iyears.

There iare iabout i1000 ikm iof imetro iline iproposals iunder iplanning.

Govt. iof iIndia ihas itaken ivarious isteps ifor istandardization iand igrowth iof imetro irail iin
iIndia. i iThe iMetro iRail iPolicy i2017 iof iGovt. iof iIndia ienables irapid iand isustainable
igrowth iof imetro irail iin ithe icountry.