India's Metro Expansion On Track To Become World's Second-Largest Network

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted the remarkable progress in urban metro transport over the past decade, announcing that India is poised to have the world's second-largest urban metro system within the next two and a half years.

Puri highlighted that India currently operates 945 kilometres of metro lines, with an additional 1,000 kilometres under construction, set to be completed soon.

With the Metro Rail Policy of 2017, the operational metro rail network in the country has expanded by more than 450 km since 2018-19. The presence of metro rail has expanded from five cities in 2014 to 20 cities in 2023.

Puri emphasised the surge in metro ridership, noting that one crore passengers use the metro daily, with 73 lakh in the Delhi capital region alone. He credited former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for initiating the metro system in 2002, acknowledging its transformative impact on urban transport, reports Mint.

"Daily ridership across metro systems in the country has already crossed the 10 million mark, and is expected to exceed 12.5 million in a year or two. India is witnessing a steep rise in its metro ridership and will continue to do so as our metro systems evolve. It must also be noted that nearly all metro rail systems in the country presently generate operational profits,” as per release from the Housing Ministry.

Currently, China leads in terms of metro infrastructure with over 4,201 km of operational metro systems. The USA has the second largest metro network with about 1,408 km.