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In India’s main cities, which are densely populated, urban rail transit plays a significant role in intracity mobility. According to a 2021 report, 2,636 million people use metro systems in India’s thirteen main cities each year, making the country one of the largest urban rapid transit hubs globally in terms of usage. Rapid transit (also known as metro), suburban rail, monorail, and tram systems are all included. India’s combined metro system length of 731.25 kilometres places it fifth in the world in terms of operational metro systems. As of now most of the metro cities in India have operation metro systems.
History of Metro System in India: The First Metro in India
Metro rail is now becoming as the most famous rapit transit mode of transportation in India, especially in metro cities in India. Currently there are 13 cities in which indian metro system is operational. The first metro in India came in 1984, in Kolkata. Initially for a few years, it was the only metro rail network controlled by the Indian Railways.
W.E. Crum set up a committee in September 1919 at Shimla during a session and in that session, the committee recommended the rapid transit, which is metro line to be developed in Kolkata. Following this, the next proposal for the same came in 1949-50, which was brought by the West Bengal government. In addition to it, French experts also conducted a survey for the same. However, the proposal by the government could not be implemented and the first metro in India got delayed. 23 years later, on 24th October 1984, the first metro line of India was established in one of the metro cities in India, which is Kolkata.
Metro Network in India
As of now there are 15 operational metro systems that covers 13 cities in India. Majorly metro cities in India are covered under metro systems. Out of all the metro systems in India, the largest metro system is of Delhi Metro, that even connect nearby states that are present in National Capital Region, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and more. India in December 2021 has 731.25 km of operational metro lines. These metro lines have around 551 stations in all the 15 metro systems. In addition, as of now many cities have metro systems under construction and they comprise 568.15 Km.
Kolkata metro is under Indian Railways, rest all metro lines are not operated by them. These metro lines are operated by local authorities. However, Hyderabad and Chennai have mass transit systems that are under Indian Railways. These are known as Hyderabad MMTS, and Chennai MRTS.
The National Urban Transport Policy in 2006 proposed to construct metro rail systems in all the metro cities in India, and also in those cities which has a population of minimum 2 million. In 2014, the Union Government announced that they will provide funds for implementing metro networks in cities that have a population above 1 million. In 2015, the proposal of the Union Urban Development Ministry wasa approved by the Union Government. The proposal was to implement metro networks in fifty cities, and maximum of the projects were implemented via special purpose vehicles. These will also be established as a joint venture of 50-50 among the state government and the Union government. It was also estimated that the Union Goverment will invest 5 Lakh Crore Indian Rupees.
In March 2017, a new draft policy was unveiled and according to it the central government mentioned that it wants the state governments to consider these metro networks as their last option and they should only implement it after considering the other mass rapid transist modes. This decision was a result of the expenses that were spend in the development of metro rail systems. Following this, the Union Government in Augues 2017 announced that from now onwards it will not provide funds to the new metro projects. However, if there is any private partnership involved, then only it will assist financially.
Conclusion
India is the world’s largest democracy, with over a billion people. India is a country that is now developing with rapid urbanisation, and with this metro rail is rapidly gaining popularity in India. As of now, it is operational in 13 cities, and many of them are metro cities in India. But, it will soon start developing in other cities as well.
