At least 100 cities in India to have their own Metro networks by 2047, says top official

With Metro train projects already functional or in the pipeline in several cities across the country, at least 100 cities will have their own such networks by 2047 -- the 100th year of independence -- Durga Shanker Mishra, secretary, Union housing and urban affairs ministry, has said.

With Metro train projects already functional or in the pipeline in several cities across the country, at least 100 cities will have their own such networks by 2047 -- the 100th year of independence -- Durga Shanker Mishra, secretary, Union housing and urban affairs ministry, has said. Mishra made this observation while delivering his remarks on the second day of the New India Urban Expo in Lucknow, on Wednesday.

Delhi Metro (File Photo/Used only for representation)

“In 2047, when the country marks the 100th year of its independence, we will have Metro trains running in at least 100 cities. The total length of the Metro network in the country currently stands at 500 kilometers. By 2047, its length will have increased 10 folds to 5000 kilometers,” Mishra said, according to Hindustan Times’ sister publication Live Hindustan. 

The official also projected that once the Covid-19 pandemic is over, the daily ridership of this mode of transit, across all networks, will rise to 10 million. “Before the pandemic, up to 8.5 million people were travelling on Metro trains each day. At present, their number is at around 3-3.5 million,” he further said. 

Mishra also heaped praise upon other related modes of transit such as Metrolite, Metro Neo and Water Metro, saying that these cost less than a Metro project.

At present, India’s Metro network is the fifth-largest globally, with trains operating in cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Noida, Lucknow etc. Projects are lined up in various other cities as well. Kolkata Metro, launched in 1984, is the oldest while Delhi Metro, which commenced operations in 2002, is the second-oldest, as well as the largest and busiest.