Urban rail transit in India
overview of the urban rail transit system in India
Urban rail transit in India consists of various modes of rail based public transport systems in urban areas of India, such as metro, suburban rail, monorail, regional rapid rail, tram and funiculur railway.
The presence of metro rail in India began with commissioning of the first system in Kolkata in 1984. They were later introduced gradually in other cities like Delhi and Bengaluru, eventually becoming popular in all urban agglomerations.
According to a report published in 2025, a total of 36.5 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. In 2025, the Delhi Metro alone carries an average of 46.3 lakh (4.63 million) passengers daily, and the Delhi-Meerut RRTS has an operational speed of 160 km/h. Across all metro systems in India, daily ridership is expected to be significantly higher, possibly exceeding 10 million. As of 2026, the cumulative length of 1,070.06 kilometres (664.90 miles) of twenty-one metro systems in India makes it the third longest in operation in the world.
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 under the provisions of the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006.
Currently, the Delhi-Meerut RRTS is the fastest urban rail transit system in India, featuring an operational speed of 160 km/h and an average speed (including stoppage time) of 100 km/h.
The public source identifies “Urban rail transit in India” as overview of the urban rail transit system in India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Urban, rail and transit.
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