Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday (May 19) highlighted the significant progress in urban metro transport over the past decade and expressed confidence that India would soon boast the world’s second-largest urban metro system within the next two and a half years.
While speaking at the event in the national capital, Puri emphasised the remarkable increase in metro ridership, with one crore passengers daily, including 73 lakh in the Delhi capital region alone.
“In today’s day, the fact that needs to be reiterated is that there are 1 crore people riding on the metro every day, and out of the 1 crore people, 73 lakh are the ridership of the capital region of Delhi,” Puri said.
1,000 km of metro construction underway
He underscored the ease of intra-city travel despite rapid urbanisation and announced that the country currently operates 945 kilometers of metro system, with an additional 1,000 kilometers under construction, slated for completion in the near future.
“Today, even though the population of the city is expanding massively, it is still easy to get from one part of the city to the other within a reasonable period of time. More people are taking to urban transport,” he added.
Puri credited the visionary initiative of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for initiating the metro system in 2002, highlighting its transformative impact.
Expansion of Delhi Metro
Former Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi praised the expansion of the Delhi Metro, acknowledging its role in alleviating traffic congestion. “There used to be a lot of 1970’s traffic indiscipline and jams back then in the 1970s. The way the Delhi metro has been expanding under the central government is commendable,” he said.
