india-s-metro-lines-expand-to-945-km-in-21-cities-khattar

In India, 700 km of new metro lines have been made operational in the past decade, said Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday. With this, the total track length of the metro in the country is now 945 km, with the metro services being operational in 21 cities, which previously was only limited to 5 cities in 2014, affirmed the housing and urban affairs minister.

 

"Before 2014, the metro rail system in India was limited to just 248 km and operational in only five cities. Over the last ten years, 700 km of new metro lines have been made operational, bringing the total operational length to 945 km, and extending metro services to 21 cities across the country," said Khattar.

 

In conversation with the media regarding the issue of additional Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors, besides the one between Delhi and Meerut, Khattar flagged resistance from the Delhi government as the cause of delay but assured that the remaining two priority corridors connecting Gurugram, Manesar and Dharuhera, and Sonepat and Panipat in the north of the national capital will soon be sanctioned.

 

Hours after the minister's claim, the Delhi government, in a statement, said that there had been no delay on its part.

 

Within hours of Khattar's statement, the Delhi administration reacted by saying there was no delay on their part, "The Delhi government has already given its share of the amount to fund the project".

 

"So much money has been given by the Delhi government, which has not even been spent yet. No file is pending with us. Therefore, it is wrong to say the project has been delayed due to the Delhi government," the statement further adds.

 

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved metro rail projects for Pune, Thane, and Bengaluru.

 

Khattar pointed out that India has developed four state-of-the-art facilities to manufacture metro coaches. These have produced over 1,000 metro coaches in the last five years, supporting various metro rail systems across the country, he said. With the approval of these new projects, India now has 1,018 km of metro lines under construction, he said and added that India currently ranks third globally in terms of operational metro network length, following China and the US.

 

"We are poised to soon surpass the US and become second only to China," he said, attributing this success to the 'Make in India' initiative championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.