Ticket to the future

With huge investments across 20 cities, the metro rail is the commuting system that will define India's new urbanism. Projects in 20 cities, Rs 2 lakh crore in committed investments, Rs. 2 lakh crore in the pipeline. Clearly, India’s urbanism is riding into a metro rail future, although gaps remain in making city transport systems ‘smart’.

Ten cities in the country are implementing metro rail projects, most of them from a zero baseline, since they either have no such facility or have only an obsolete rail system. Illustration: Deepak Harichandran

With huge investments across 20 cities, the metro rail is the commuting system that will define India's new urbanism. Projects in 20 cities, Rs 2 lakh crore in committed investments, Rs. 2 lakh crore in the pipeline. Clearly, India’s urbanism is riding into a metro rail future, although gaps remain in making city transport systems ‘smart’.

>India's new urbanism takes the metro route A congestion charge or even a charge on fuel in the 64 chosen Indian cities could fund metro and other transport projects efficiently. > Read More...

> Impact of public transport on Delhi One of the major reasons for the fall in road accidents in the last decade coincides with the metro gradually becoming the principal artery of public transport. > Read More...

> Missing the deadline Slated to have been up and running in 2015, Chennai’s metro is still work in progress. > Read More...

> Derailed in Mumbai Mumbai's tryst with the metro rail so far has been unimpressive and sluggish. > Read More...