Metro and Local Train

Metro trains run in metropolitan cities across 12 Indian states and rapidly they have become the number one choice of mass transit owing to their ever-growing popularity. Metro railway was introduced in India back in 1984. This opening project is none other than the Kolkata Metro Network which is to date the only rail connectivity that is controlled by the Indian Railways. The other metro transportations in several metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai are looked after by autonomous local bodies. The metro rail tracks that are under operation in all the Indian cities can be underground or elevated too. The second city to get access to metro connectivity is the Union Capital Territory of Delhi. The metros that operate in Delhi are the busiest among all the other metro trains that run in metropolitan cities across the country. Its popularity encouraged the government to invest more in developing metro connectivity in other cities as well to connect the distances within the city and its suburbs areas. Many projects have kick-started as the Government announced its handsome budget of Rs. 1 trillion for developing more metro projects in India.

Currently, the population residing in the cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Gurgaon, Nagpur, Noida, Jaipur, and Kochi enjoy the facilities of local metro rail companies. Apart from these megacities, there are several other cities in which over 450 km of metro rail tracks have been planned, and accordingly, construction has also started. Some of them include Ahmedabad, Pune, Kozhikode, Kanpur, Patna, Guwahati, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Bhopal, Indore, and Varanasi.

Local Trains in India

The local trains are the most popular means of the public transport system in the country that not only run-in metropolitan cities but also extend their services to most of the major Indian cities. These trains fall under the category of suburban rail service that helps in facilitating daily intercity passenger commutation. The local train network in India is one of the oldest railway networks in Asia. The trains are heavily crowded with passengers daily who belong from all the economic levels of the society. The local train networks are distributed into separate suburban railway lines that connect multiple railway stations. These suburban lines often share tracks that are dedicated to long-distance trains. The Mumbai local train network records for the most severely crowded railway network in the world. It experiences a commuter volume of more than 8 million passengers each day and covers a span of 465 kilometers altogether. This proves how efficiently the suburban trains run in metropolitan cities. 

Difference between metro trains and local trains

Both the metro trains and the local trains run in metropolitan cities and they are effectively managed to cater to huge volumes of the population daily. These two different types of commutes operate using separate rail networks. But the main difference between the two is that the metro trains are designed to be driven over independent rail lines, unlike local trains that are forced to share paths with trains that are meant for covering long distances. The second difference can be spotted in the type of power supply. While the metros only operate on electricity, local trains also have the option of using diesel as fuel besides electricity. The passenger intake capacity of local trains is much greater when we compare it to the average occupancy of metro trains at any time of the day. Also, the metro trains can be underground or elevated too owing to the infrastructural advancements procured in metro cities. Local trains run on rail tracks that pass-through villages and small towns. Thus, they offer more access. The issuance of tickets is also different in the case of local trains where the passengers are given printed passes compared to the digitally coded tokens that are used in metro railway transportation. The metro stations are more developed as modern technologies like computerized checkout systems, elevators, air-conditioning units, etc. are installed there. These facilities are not available in most of the local railway stations.

Conclusion

Metros can be driven on tracks that are constructed not only on the ground but also on pillars as well as in the underground. Local trains cannot be operated on pillars. The local train network helps in the commutation of most of the Indians across different cities of a state as they provide most of the access in small towns and villages as well. Both these transport modes run in metropolitan cities but in many ways, they differ from each other. Even the operating and legislative bodies are also separate as the Indian Railways authorizes only the metro railway network of Kolkata. Metro train systems enhance the financial status of the state government while local trains cater to most of the transportation requirements daily.