India will have 900 km of operation metro network by 2022, says Puri

Sep 18,2021

India will have 900 km of operation metro network by 2022, says Puri

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said that nearly 740 km of metro lines are operational currently in various cities in India. The minister was speaking at the inauguration of the 1.2-km Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand corridor of Delhi Metro's Grey Line.  On Saturday evening, Puri inaugurated the corridor along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. 

"We are going to cross major milestones. Nearly 740 km or so of metro lines are operational in various cities in India, and the network span is 'steadily scheduled to rise', and we have various steps planned out throughout the country. So, it will be over 900 km, I think by 2022," he said, adding that 900 km of operational metro network will be an achievement in itself.

 He further added, “Besides, another 1,000 km metro lines are under construction in various cities in India, so the total span will be close to 2,000 km in coming years."
Lauding various achievements of the Delhi Metro amid the pandemic, Puri said that he hopes the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), under the leadership of its chief Mangu Singh, its ridership can be ramped back to 65 lakh a day as was before the Covid pandemic, or perhaps even higher, taking into account other factors.

The overall ridership in metros across the country was 85 lakh in pre-Covid time. 

With the opening of Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand corridor, Delhi Metro further enters the interior areas of Najafgarh in outer and semi-urban areas. The DMRC span has now increased to nearly 392 km with 286 stations (including the Noida–Greater Noida Metro Corridor and Rapid Metro, Gurgaon)

The Union minister said, “Delhi Metro is a trailblazer transportation system in the country and the work on expanding the metro lines was literally just a start, and with the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) and other projects we are poised to take it to a much higher level in the coming years."
Delhi will also become one of the most beautiful cities in the world, he said.
Under the Delhi Metro's Phase-IV, 65.10 km of new metro lines shall be constructed across three priority corridors comprising 46 metro stations. These new sections shall provide interconnectivity among the already operational sections of the Delhi Metro.

The Mukundpur-Maujpur, R K Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridors were approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2019.

The other three proposed corridors of Phase-IV, which have not yet been approved by the government are Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.

Ambassador of Japan to India, Satoshi Suzuki, who joined over video link from the Embassy, said the Delhi Metro is a "shining example" of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs, Durga Shankar Mishra said about 1,050 km of metro lines were under construction in 27 cities.