Length of India’s operational metros now 824 km: Puri

The length of operational metro rail projects has reached 824 kilometres, and work on another 1,039 km is in progress, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Rajya Sabha this week. The figure was zero in 2002, he added. “We are on the path of those who are advocating bringing in more public transport, and that is why we have gone from 0 to 824 km, and another 1,039 km coming up. That is a testimony to the fact that public transport is being encouraged, Puri said. “We are already one of the largest metro operators, and I am sure the time will come we would be the second largest metro operator in the world,” the minister said. Puri said the central government encourages public transport under different schemes. “We encourage the purchase of buses; we encourage the metro system. The metro system, by definition, is a capital-intensive system,” he said. Responding to a query on making metro transport affordable, Puri said, “Now, as regards the affordability, I agree, but metro systems have to be self-sustaining. There are some state governments which would want to make metro system free, which means the metro will become like their state transport undertaking buses, in other words, collapse. So, a judicious balance has to be found.” See also: Noida metro Aqua Line gets green signal from PIBPM Modi flags off two lines of Nagpur Metro Phase I