Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail, and tram systems.
According to a report published in 2021, a total of 2.63 billion people traveled annually in metro systems across India's fifteen major cities, placing the country as one of the busiest urban rapid transit hubs in the world in terms of commuters. As of 2024, the cumulative length of 945lk=onNaNlk=on of seventeen metro systems in India makes it the third longest in operation in the world.[1]
The Ministry of Urban Development's Urban Transport wing is the nodal division for coordination, appraisal, and approval of Urban Transport matters including Metro Rail Projects at the central level. All the interventions in urban transport by the Ministry of Urban Development are carried out as per the provisions of the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006.[2]
The Delhi Meerut RRTS is the fastest Urban Transit system in India currently that can run at a speed of 160 kmph with average operational speed of 100 kmph.
Indian cities have various types of urban transit systems operational, under construction and planned. These systems are being implemented based on the population of a city, financial feasibility and demand.
| Urban transit type | Capacity | Speed | Frequency of stations / stops | Locale | Right of way | Rail based | Cost to build and operate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro | ||||||||
| † | ||||||||
| Light rail | ‡ | |||||||
| Monorail | ||||||||
| Tram | ||||||||
| Bus Rapid Transit | ||||||||
| Metro Neo | ||||||||
| Water Metro |
The rapid transit or popularly known as metro in India, is an urban high-capacity rail system, commonly operated in metropolitan cities. These systems are segregated from Indian Railways and have their right-of-way.
Suburban rail or popularly known as local train system in India, is an urban rail transit system where the suburbs are connected to the city's centre. These systems are linked to and operated by Indian Railways. Example: Mumbai Suburban Railway
It is a rapid transit (metro) system which has a capacity higher than light rail but lower than rapid transit system to serve a medium demand. It is built considering the future rise in demand, so that it can be converted into a regular metro. Example: Rapid Metro Gurgaon
Light rail which is also known as Metro Lite is used in cities that have low demand. It is a combination of rapid transit and tram systems. It has a higher capacity and speed compared to tram services and has dedicated tracks that are mostly fenced. Example: Srinagar Metro
This system has trains running on a single rail/beam. It has found its application in medium capacity transport, but due to low efficiency and high costs, it has been sidelined in India. Example: Mumbai Monorail
This system is operated either between two similarly sized cities, which are close to each other or between an urban city and smaller cities lying nearby. Example: Delhi–Meerut RRTS
These systems are one of the oldest modes of urban transport in India. They are low capacity, slow-moving trains which run on tracks that are embedded in the urban streets. Example: Kolkata Tram
The first-ever mode of the urban rail transit system in India was commuter rail (or suburban rail), built in Mumbai on 16 April 1853. The first passenger train was flagged off from Bori Bunder (present-day Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai) from where it travelled to Thane, covering a distance of 34 km in an hour and fifteen minutes. This made it the Asia's first suburban railway.[3] At the turn of the 20th century, tram systems began to sprawl across the four major cities of India, viz. Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, and helped local population to meet their intracity transportation needs. Horse-drawn tram was first introduced in Kolkata in 1873 and the electric trams began to operate in Chennai in 1895, later the cities of Mumbai, Kanpur, and Delhi saw trams being introduced. These services were discontinued in all Indian cities between 1933 and 1964, except for Kolkata where they operate on streets to the present day as heritage.[4]
In September 1919, during a session of the Imperial Legislative Council at Shimla, a committee was set up by W. E. Crum that recommended a metro line for Kolkata.[5] The next proposal for a metro system was mooted by government of West Bengal in 1949-50 and a survey was conducted by French experts. However, the proposal could not be brought into the effect and India had to wait for its first metro service. It was twenty three years later when the foundation stone was laid in Kolkata in 1972 to commence the construction of the ambitious metro system. On 24 October 1984, India saw its first metro system operational in Kolkata. After several struggles and bureaucratic hurdles, a stretch of 3.4 km was opened with five stations on the line.[6] On 1 November 1995, the Chennai MRTS began its operations, becoming the first elevated railway line in India and also the country's longest elevated mass rapid transit corridor spanning 17 km.[7] [8]
The first concept of an urban rapid transit system in Delhi came out during 1969,[9] when a traffic and travel characteristics study was conducted. The bus systems which catered the public transportation in the city soon began to run out of capacity and the traffic was on the rise, this soon became a growing concern. The concepts for an urban transit system were considered as the need for the country's capital. After planning, a proposal was made in 1984, which revealed plans for constructing three underground corridors and augmentation of the existing suburban rail system. The construction began on 1 October 1998 and the first line was operational on 24 December 2002.[10] With 348.12km (216.31miles), the Delhi Metro went on to be the longest and by far the busiest metro system in India, which also served as a role model to other Indian cities.[11]
While the political capital of India was expanding on its success by constructing new metro lines, suburban railways remained as the dominant mode of transport in the financial capital, Mumbai. According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) the city bus services operating in narrow and crowded areas of the city were slow-moving and caused traffic congestion hence a rapid transit system was necessary. Since the city already had planned metro services and since the suburban railways also connected major parts of the city, a feeder system to these services was proposed in the form of Monorail.[12] After the construction was completed, On 1 February 2014, Mumbai Monorail became the first of its kind in India.[13] [14]
In the early 2010s, many cities had conceived the plan to build monorails as the major urban transportation solution to their cities. However, Mumbai's monorail soon began to reveal the underlying problems of a monorail system.[15] The issues such as low ridership, inefficient track maintenance (accessibility of the tracks during maintenance as well as the time taken to repair the tracks), train slowing down at the switches and for the fact that the monorail tracks had to be entirely elevated with a dedicated depot and set of rolling stocks, raised the concerns on feasibility, cost of construction and operation of the new lines significantly. For the similar reasons, almost all of the monorail systems around the world are seen in amusement parks or similar theme parks instead as a solution to the urban public transportation.[16] A traditional light rail system soon emerged as the efficient mode but with cheaper cost and greater capacity than what monorail offered. As a result, many Indian cities replaced their monorail projects with either a regular metro or a light rail system.[17]
There are currently 17 operational rapid transit (Officially and popularly known as 'Metro') systems in seventeen cities across India, with Delhi Metro being the largest.[18] As of July 2024, India has 945lk=onNaNlk=on of operational metro lines in 17 cities.[19] [20] India's metro network is the third longest in the world, behind China and USA. A further 779.27 km of lines are under construction.
Apart from the Kolkata Metro (which has its own zone under Indian Railways),[21] these rapid transit metro lines are not operated by Indian Railways, but a separate set of local authorities. In addition to their metro systems, the cities of Chennai and Hyderabad have mass transit systems operated by the Indian Railways, known as the Chennai MRTS and the Hyderabad MMTS, respectively. The first rapid transit system in India is the Kolkata Metro, which started operations in 1984. Kolkata Metro also currently has the only underwater metro line in the country. The Delhi Metro has the largest network in the entire country.[22]
In 2006, the National Urban Transport Policy had proposed the construction of a metro rail system in every city with a population of at least 20 lakh (2 million) people.[23] [24]
From 2002 to 2014, the Indian metro infrastructure expanded by 248 km.[1]
Later on 11 August 2014, Union Government had announced that it would provide financial assistance for the implementation of a metro rail system to all Indian cities having a population of more than 1 million.[25] [26] In May 2015, the Union Government approved the Union Urban Development Ministry's proposal to implement metro rail systems in 50 cities, with the majority of the planned projects were to be implemented through special purpose vehicles, which will be established as 50:50 joint ventures between the Union and respective State Government. The Union Government would invest an estimated .[27] [28]
In a new draft policy unveiled in March 2017, the Central Government stated that it wanted state governments to consider metro rail as the "last option" and implement it only after considering all other possible mass rapid transit systems. The decision was taken due to the high cost of constructing metro rail systems.[29] In August 2017, the Union Government announced that it would not provide financial assistance to the new metro rail project unless some sort of private partnership is involved.[30] [31] [32]
| System | Locale | Lines Operational | Stations | Length | Operator(s) | Opened | Annual Ridership (in millions) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational | Under Construction | Planned | OP+U/C | OP+U/C+Planned | |||||||||
| 1 | Delhi NCR | 10[33] | 231 | [34] [35] | [36] | [37] [38] [39] | DMRC | 24 December 2002[40] | 2032.3 (2023)[41] | ||||
| 2 | Bengaluru | 2 | 66[42] | [43] [44] | [45] | [46] | BMRCL | 20 October 2011[47] | 232.8 (2024)[48] | ||||
| 3 | Hyderabad | 3 | 57 | [49] | – | HMRL | 29 November 2017[50] | 162.06 (2023)[51] [52] | |||||
| 4 | Kolkata | 4 | 50 | [53] [54] | MRK KMRC | 24 October 1984[55] | 192.5 (2024)[56] | ||||||
| 5 | Chennai | 2 | 42[57] | [58] | CMRL | 29 June 2015[59] | 110.1 (2023)[60] | ||||||
| 6 | Mumbai | 3 | 45 | [61] [62] [63] | MMOPL MMMOCLMMRC | 8 June 2014[64] | 273.75 (2024)[65] [66] [67] | ||||||
| 7 | Ahmedabad Metro | Ahmedabad | 2 | 31 | 38.63abbr=onNaNabbr=on[68] | 4 March 2019[69] [70] | 29.35 (2023)[71] [72] | ||||||
| 8 | Nagpur | 2 | [73] | [74] | MahaMetro | 8 March 2019[75] | 27.38 (2023)[76] [77] | ||||||
| 9 | Pune | 2 | 20 | [78] [79] | MahaMetro | 6 March 2022[80] | 14.66 (2023)[81] [82] | ||||||
| 10 | Noida | 1 | 21 | – | DMRC | 25 January 2019[83] | 16.7 (2023) [84] | ||||||
| 11 | Kochi | 1 | 25 | [85] | KMRL | 17 June 2017[86] | 31.17 (2023)[87] | ||||||
| 12 | Lucknow | 1 | 21 | [88] | – | UPMRC | 5 September 2017[89] | 26.82 (2023)[90] [91] | |||||
| 13 | Rapid Metro Gurgaon | NCR | 1 | 11 | – | DMRC | 14 November 2013[92] | 14.6 (2023)[93] [94] | |||||
| 14 | Jaipur | 1[95] | 11 | [96] | [97] | JMRC | 3 June 2015 | 18.12 (2023)[98] | |||||
| 15 | MMR | 1 | 11 | 11.10 km (6.90 mi)[99] | – | 86.2 km [100] (7.6 mi) | CIDCO | 17 November 2023 | 0.935 (2024)[101] [102] | ||||
| 16 | Kanpur | 1 | 9 | [103] | UPMRC | 28 December 2021 | – | ||||||
| 17 | Agra | 1 | 6 | [104] | [105] | 15.40 km (9.56 mi) | UPMRC | 6 March 2024 | – | ||||
| Total | 17 | 38 | 715 | 945km (587miles) | 1,289.069 km (799.083 mi) | 1617.64km (1,005.15miles) | 3144.561km (1,953.94miles) | 3085.895 millions | |||||
Indicates ridership figures based on the fiscal year rather than the calendar year.
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Lines | Stations | Length (Under Construction) | Length (Planned) | Construction began | Planned Opening | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhoj Metro | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | 2 | 28 | 27.87abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 80abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2018 | 2024[106] | |
| Indore Metro | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | 5 | 89 | 33.53abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 248abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2018 | 2024 | |
| Meerut Metro | Meerut | Uttar Pradesh | 2 | 25 | 23.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 38.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2019 | 2025[107] | |
| Patna Metro | Patna | Bihar | 2 | 26 | 16.86abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 30.91abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2020 | 2025[108] | |
| Surat Metro | Surat | Gujarat | 2 | 38 | 40.35abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 40.35abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2021 | 2027[109] | |
| Bhubaneswar Metro | Odisha | 1 | 20 | 26.024abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 26.024abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2024[110] | 2028[111] | ||
| Visakhapatnam Metro | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | 3 | 54 | 76.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2024 | 2028[112] | ||
| Chandigarh Metro | Chandigarh Capital Region | 5 | 50+ | 154.5 km (95 mi) | TBD | TBD[113] | |||
| Vadodara Metro | Vadodara | Gujarat | 2 | TBD | 43.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[114] | ||
| Rajkot Metro | Rajkot | Gujarat | 2 | TBD | 37.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[115] | ||
| Thane Metro | Thane | Maharashtra | 1 | 22 | 30abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[116] | ||
| Guwahati Metro | Guwahati | Assam | 4 | 54 | 61.42abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD | ||
| Ranchi Metro | Ranchi | Jharkhand | 1 | 20 | 16abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[117] | ||
| Thiruvananthapuram Metro | Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala | 2 | 38 | 46.7abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[118] [119] | ||
| Coimbatore Metro | Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 2 | 32 | 34.8abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD | ||
| Aurangabad Metro | Aurangabad | Maharashtra | 2 | TBD | 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD | TBD[120] [121] | ||
| Total | 44 | 700+ | 169.63abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1184.955abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Length | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Railway Elevated Corridor | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 63.27abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Rejected due to infeasibility.[122] | |
| Ludhiana Metro | Ludhiana | Punjab | 28.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Rejected and replaced by bus rapid transit system.[123] | |
| Skybus Metro | Margao | Goa | 1.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Scrapped and Dismantled [124] |
India has a total of 38 lines of metro under operation.
| Urban rapid rail transit lines | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line | System | Length | Stations | Rolling stock | Commencement | Latest extension | ||
| Blue Line | Kolkata | 32.13km (19.96miles) | 26 | ICF, CRRC Dalian | 24 October 1984 | 22 February 2021 | ||
| Green Line | 14.1km (08.8miles) | 12 | BEML Limited | 13 February 2020 | 6 March 2024 | |||
| Purple Line | 7.75km (04.82miles) | 7 | ICF | 30 December 2022 | 6 March 2024 | |||
| Orange Line | 5.4km (03.4miles) | 5 | ICF | 6 March 2024 | – | |||
| Red Line | Delhi | 34.69km (21.56miles) | 29 | Mitsubishi, Hyundai Rotem and BEML Limited | 25 December 2002 | 8 March 2019 | ||
| Yellow Line | 49.31km (30.64miles) | 37 | Mitsubishi, Hyundai Rotem, BEML Limited and Bombardier Movia | 20 December 2004 | 10 November 2015 | |||
| Blue Line (Main) | 56.61km (35.18miles) | 50 | 31 December 2005 | 9 March 2019 | ||||
| Blue Line (Branch) | 8.74km (05.43miles) | 8 | 10 May 2009 | 14 July 2011 | ||||
| Green Line (Main) | 28.79km (17.89miles) | 24 | Mitsubishi, Hyundai Rotem and BEML Limited | 3 April 2010 | 24 June 2018 | |||
| Violet Line | 46.63km (28.97miles) | 34 | 3 October 2010 | 19 November 2018 | ||||
| Airport Express | 22.7km (14.1miles) | 6 | CAF | 23 February 2011 | ||||
| Pink Line | 58.43km (36.31miles) | 38 | Hyundai Rotem and BEML Limited | 14 March 2018 | 6 August 2021 | |||
| Magenta Line | 37.46km (23.28miles) | 25 | Hyundai Rotem | 25 December 2017 | 28 May 2018 | |||
| Grey Line | 5.19km (03.22miles) | 4 | 4 October 2019 | 18 September 2021 | ||||
| Purple Line | Bengaluru | 43.49km (27.02miles) | 37 | BEML Limited | 20 October 2011 | 9 October 2023 | ||
| Green Line | 30.37km (18.87miles) | 29 | 1 March 2014 | 15 January 2021 | ||||
| Line 1 | Gurgaon | 11.7km (07.3miles) | 11 | Siemens | 14 November 2013 | 31 March 2017 | ||
| Blue Line 1 | Mumbai | 10.81km (06.72miles) | 12 | CRRC Nanjing Puzhen | 8 June 2014 | – | ||
| Yellow Line 2 | 18.58km (11.55miles) | 17 | BEML | 2 April 2022 | 19 January 2023 | |||
| Red Line 7 | 16.5km (10.3miles) | 14 | 2 April 2022 | 19 January 2023 | ||||
| Pink Line | Jaipur | 11.97km (07.44miles) | 11 | BEML Limited | 3 June 2015 | 23 September 2020 | ||
| Blue Line | Chennai | 32.65km (20.29miles) | 25 | Alstom | 21 September 2016 | 13 March 2022 | ||
| Green Line | 22km (14miles) | 17 | 29 June 2015 | 25 May 2018 | ||||
| Line 1 | Kochi | 28.13km (17.48miles) | 22 | Alstom Metropolis | 17 June 2017 | 6 March 2024 | ||
| Red Line | Lucknow | 22.87km (14.21miles) | 21 | Alstom | 5 September 2017 | 8 March 2019 | ||
| Red Line | Hyderabad | 29km (18miles) | 27 | Hyundai Rotem | 29 November 2017 | 24 September 2018 | ||
| Blue Line | 27km (17miles) | 23 | 29 November 2017 | 29 November 2019 | ||||
| Green Line | 11km (07miles) | 10 | 7 February 2020 | – | ||||
| Aqua Line | Noida | 29.7km (18.5miles) | 21 | CRRC | 25 January 2019 | – | ||
| Blue Line | Ahmedabad | 19.38km (12.04miles) | 16 | Hyundai Rotem | 4 March 2019 | 1 October 2022 | ||
| Red Line | 18.52km (11.51miles) | 16 | 1 October 2022 | |||||
| Orange Line | Nagpur | 15.6km (09.7miles) | 13 | CRRC | 8 March 2019 | 21 August 2021 | ||
| Aqua Line | 11km (07miles) | 11 | 28 January 2020 | 6 April 2021 | ||||
| Orange Line | Kanpur | 8.98km (05.58miles) | 9 | Alstom | 28 December 2021 | – | ||
| Purple Line | Pune | 7km (04miles) | 5 | Titagarh Firema | 6 March 2022 | – | ||
| Aqua Line | 5km (03miles) | 5 | 6 March 2022 | – | ||||
| Line 1 | Navi Mumbai | 11.1km (06.9miles) | 11 | CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive | 17 November 2023 | – | ||
| 5.2km (03.2miles) | 6 | Alstom Movia | 6 March 2024 | – | ||||
Note : Only operational lines are listed.
Suburban rail plays a major role in the public transport system of many major Indian cities. These services are operated by Indian Railways. Suburban rail is a rail service between a central business district and the suburbs, a conurbation or other locations that draw large numbers of people daily. The trains are called suburban trains. These trains are also referred to as "local trains" or "locals". The suburban rail systems in Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow–Kanpur and Bengaluru do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share tracks with long-distance trains. The suburban rail system of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have both dedicated tracks and tracks shared with long-distance trains.
The first suburban rail system in India is Mumbai Suburban Railway which started operations in 1853. The Kolkata Suburban Railway has the largest network in the entire country. The Chennai Suburban Railway started its operations in 1931.
Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are all electric multiple units (EMUs). They usually have nine or twelve coaches, sometimes even fifteen to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in the suburban rails run on 25 kV AC.[125] Ridership on India's suburban railways has risen from 1.2 million in 1970–71 to 4.4 million in 2012–13. The suburban railways of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai occupy no more than 7.1% of the Indian Railways network, but account for 53.2% of all railway passengers.[126] In some cities of India, the opening of rapid transit systems has led to a decline in the use of the suburban rail system.[127] [128]
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Lines | Stations | Length | Opened | Annual Ridership (in Billions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Bengal | 24 | 458 | 1501abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 15 August 1854[129] | 1.825 | |||
| Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry | 8 | 300+ | 1200abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1931[130] | 1.01 | |||
| Maharashtra | 7 | 150 | 450.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 16 April 1853 | 3.0 | |||
| Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System | Telangana | 5 | 44 | 90abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 9 August 2003[131] | 0.8 | ||
| National Capital Region | Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana | 1 | 46 | 85abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1 October 1975[132] | – | ||
| Uttar Pradesh | 1 | 23 (NR)28 (NER) | 101 km (NR)109 km (NER) | 1867 | _ | |||
| Maharashtra | 2 | 17 | 63abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 11 March 1978[133] | 0.3 | |||
| Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 2 | 18 | 19.34abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1 November 1995[134] | 0.1 | ||
| Total | 8 | 8 | 48 | 1017 | 3319.84abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 5.5 |
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Lines | Stations | Length | Planned Opening | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru Suburban Railway | Bengaluru | Karnataka | 4 | 57 | 148.17abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2026[135] [136] | |
| Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 2 | 41 | 52.96abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD[137] | ||
| Nagpur | Maharashtra | 4[138] | TBD | 268.63abbr=onNaNabbr=on | TBD[139] [140] | ||
| Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 5 | TBD | TBD | TBD[141] |
See main article: RapidX.
Regional Rapid Transit systems in India are passenger rail services that operate beyond the limits of urban areas, and either connect similarly sized cities, or metropolitan cities and surrounding towns/cities, outside at the outer rim of a suburban belt at higher speeds.
The following list excludes passenger train services provided by Indian Railways.
The Delhi-Meerut RRTS, also known as RapidX, is a partly operational and under-construction semi-high-speed rail line connecting Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut is the only operational system currently.
Maximum speed of 180 km/h (110 mph), operating speed of 160 km/h (100 mph), average speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) considering it stops at various station and wait times.
| System | State / Union Territory | Stations | Length | Planned Opening | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi–Alwar RAPIDX | Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan | 22 | 164abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2025[144] | |
| Delhi–Panipat RAPIDX | Delhi and Haryana | 15 | 103abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 2028[145] | |
| Delhi–Rohtak RAPIDX | Delhi and Haryana | 70km (40miles) | 2032 | ||
| Delhi–Palwal RAPIDX | Delhi and Haryana | 60km (40miles) | 2032 | ||
| Delhi-Baraut RAPIDX | Delhi and Uttar Pradesh | 54km (34miles) | 2032 | ||
| Ghaziabad–Bulandshahr-Khurja RRTS | Uttar Pradesh | 83km (52miles) | 2032 | ||
| Ghaziabad–Hapur RRTS | Uttar Pradesh | 57km (35miles) | 2032 | ||
| Delhi–Jewar RAPIDX | Delhi and Uttar Pradesh | 67km (42miles) | TBD | ||
| Hyderabad–Warangal RRTS | Telangana | TBD | TBD[146] | ||
| Hyderabad–Vijayawada RRTS | Telangana and Andhra Pradesh | TBD | TBD | ||
| Vijaywada–Amaravati–Guntur–Tenali semi-high speed circular railway | Andhra Pradesh | TBD | TBD[147] |
The Mumbai Monorail, which opened on 2 February 2014, is the first and only operational monorail system used for urban transit in India.[148] Many other Indian cities had planned monorail projects, as a feeder system to the metro, but after the Mumbai monorail failed with multiple issues, other cities are reconsidering the plan and may go ahead with much efficient and proven modes of transport such as the Light rail transit system.[17] [15]
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Lines | Stations | Length | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad-Dholera SIR Monorail | Gujarat | 1 | 7 | 40.3abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Approved in January 2021. Set to open three or four years after commencement of construction.[149] [150] | ||
| Warangal Monorail | Warangal | Telangana | 1 | TBD | 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Metro or Metro Neo is under consideration.[151] | |
| Aizawl Monorail | Aizawl | Mizoram | 1 | TBD | 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on | On paper since 2012.[152] |
| System | Locale | State / Union Territory | Length | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skybus Metro | Madgaon | Goa | 1.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Defunct and Scrapped after the operation. Deemed unsafe by KRC.[153] | |
| Chennai Monorail | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 57abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Replaced with Metro.[154] | |
| Coimbatore Monorail | Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 44abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Replaced with Metro Project. | |
| Kolkata Monorail | Kolkata | West Bengal | 177abbr=onNaNabbr=on | New Town route was converted into a Ropeway & Light Rail/Tram project.[155] | |
| Kanpur Monorail | Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 63abbr=onNaNabbr=on | Scrapped in favour of Metro system[156] | |
| Madurai Monorail | Madurai | Tamil Nadu | TBD | Monorail is replaced with Metro Project.[157] | |
| Tiruchirappalli Monorail | Tiruchirapalli | Tamil Nadu | TBD | Monorail proposal is replaced with Metro Proposal.[158] [159] |
See main article: Metrolite. Light rail transit (LRT) or popularly known as Metrolite in India, is a form of urban rail transit characterized by a combination of rapid transit and tram systems. It usually operates at a higher capacity than trams, and often on an exclusive right-of-way similar to rapid transit. Several tier-2 cities in India have opted it since it is a cheap and efficient mode of urban transit which serves for a lower demand. This list excludes Trolleybus or 'Metro Neo' systems which do not use rails.
See main article: Trams in India. In addition to trains, trams were introduced in many cities in the late 19th century, though almost all of these were phased out. The Kolkata Tram is currently the only tram system in the country. Due to construction of Kolkata Metro Green line from Salt Lake to Howrah, just 19.53km (12.14miles) of Tramline is operational in Kolkata.
| System | City | State / Union Territory | Lines | Stops | Length | Opened | Discontinued | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | 1873 | 1964 | |||||
| Nashik | Maharashtra | 1 | 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1889 | 1931 | |||
| Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 1892 | 1953 | |||||
| Patna | Bihar | 1903 | ||||||
| Kanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 6.04abbr=onNaNabbr=on | 1907 | 16 May 1933 | ||||
| Kochi | Kerala | 1907 | 1963 | |||||
| Delhi | Delhi | 1908 | 1963 | |||||
| Bhavnagar | Gujarat | 1926 | 1960s |
Unlike Broad gauge which form majority of the railway tracks in the sub-continent, metro rail lines in India are of mainly standard gauge. Projects like the Kolkata Metro and Delhi Metro used broad gauge for their earliest lines, but to procure modern foreign rakes and to adopt international standard, India went ahead with standard gauge for all the following lines.[175]
See main article: National Common Mobility Card. Part of the 'One Nation, One Card' policy of the Government of India, the National Common Mobility Card is an inter-operable transport card that enables users to pay for multiple kinds of transport charges like metros and buses, as well as do other things like retail shopping and money withdrawal.[176] [177] It is enabled through the RuPay card mechanism. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs have been working on the card since 2006, when it was envisaged as a cashless fare payment system in accordance with the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 (NUTP-2006). Its aim was to provide seamless connectivity to passengers across transit systems, leading to convenience, higher digital payments penetration, savings on closed loop card lifecycle management cost, and reduced operating cost.[178] [179]
There are multiple metro manufacturers in India, Under the Union Government's Make in India program, about 75% of the rolling stock procured for use on Indian metro systems are required to be manufactured in India.[180]
| Company | Customer | Total coaches | |
|---|---|---|---|
 BEML[181] [182] | Delhi Metro | 1,444 | |
| Mumbai Metro | 576 | ||
| Namma Metro | 300 | ||
| Kolkata Metro | 102 | ||
| Jaipur Metro | 40 | ||
| BEML Total | 5 | 2,462 | |
  Bombardier[183] [184] [185] | Delhi Metro | 816 | |
| Agra Metro | 87 | ||
| Kanpur Metro | 114 | ||
| Meerut Metro | 30 | ||
| Bombardier Total | 4 | 1,047 | |
 Alstom[186] | Chennai Metro | 286 | |
| Kochi Metro | 75 | ||
| Lucknow Metro | 80 | ||
| Mumbai Metro | 248 | ||
| Delhi Metro | 312 | ||
| Indore Metro | 75 | ||
| Bhopal Metro | 81 | ||
| Pune Metro | 66 | ||
| Meerut Metro | 4 | ||
| Delhi Meerut RRTS | 80 | ||
| Alstom Total | 8 | 1,223 | |
| Hyundai Rotem[187] [188] [189] [190] [191] | Delhi Metro | 486 | |
| Ahmedabad Metro | 96 | ||
| Namma Metro | 150 | ||
| Hyderabad Metro | 171 | ||
| Hyundai Rotem Total | 4 | 903 | |
| ICF | Kolkata Metro | 1072 | |
| ICF Total | 1 | 1072 | |
| Titagarh Rail Systems[192] [193] | Namma Metro | 216 | |
| Pune Metro | 102 | ||
| Surat Metro | 72 | ||
| Titagarh Total | 3 | 390 | |
 CRRC[194] [195] [196] [197] [198] [199] | Namma Metro | 216 | |
| Rapid Metro Gurgaon | 36 | ||
| Kolkata Metro | 112 | ||
| Mumbai Metro | 48 | ||
| Nagpur Metro | 69 | ||
| Noida Metro | 76 | ||
| Navi Mumbai Metro | 24 | ||
| CRRC Total | 7 | 581 | |
| 7 | 20 | 7678 |
| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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| System | Information | Currently operational | Currently under construction | Map | Website |
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|}
As for the section opened after the end of 2019, see News: Roy . Subhajoy . 14 February 2020 . First phase of East-West Metro unveiled . 2020-02-15 . . Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group.
