How are India’s metro rail systems faring?
movement has become slow in heavy traffic and hence is losing efficiency, particularly over long commute distances. Indian cities have thus begun building metro systems to provide better public transport despite the very high costs. Captain Naveen Chandra Resident of Bengaluru
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here are over 200 cities in the world that have a metro system. London’s Metro is the oldest, operating since 1863. Shanghai Metro’s network with nearly 750km is the world’s largest today. It also has the highest annual ridership of 2.83 billion trips (in 2020). India’s growth post-liberalisation ushered in faster economic progress. Metropolitan cities being the biggest job creators began attracting migrants and have grown fast. Higher incomes have led to unsustainable levels of motorization because most cities have narrow streets. Bus
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METRO RAIL TODAY MAY 2022
Kolkata already had a metro system since 1984. India’s first modern metro opened in Delhi in 2002. Delhi metro has expanded very fast and is currently the largest metro system in India. India now has 15 operational metro systems with several more under construction or in planning stages. So, it has been two decades since Indian cities began building and operating metro systems. It is thus a good time now to take stock and analyse their performances. Let’s look at data from stats and figures for systems that have completed a phase or a major part of it and were operational for a year or more as of 2020. Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru metros top in ridership per km, but none close to forecast numbers!
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