Upcoming Metro Rail Projects in India

Talking about urban infrastructure, the chief minister of Bihar has sprung up another surprise for the residents of the state by proposing a Metro rail plan for the city worth Rs 8000 crore which is recently been given a go-ahead by the Planning Commission. According to the former CM, he has no difficulty in executing the proposed Patna metro rail project as the population of city is more than 15 lakh now and by the time the construction begins after the preparation of detailed project report, the number of people will go upto more than 20 lakh.

The project is planned in the public-private partnership. It will be carried out in 2 phases. The first phase will be providing metro rail from Danapur to Patna city and the other one will be from Saguna Mode to Fraser Road via Bailey road both covering a distance of 20 km. The two routes have an almost straight alignment and it would require minimum structural reorientation during the infrastructure development for the metro corridors.

According to sources the urban development department has already been approached by several leading metro infrastructure development firms like Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Delhi metro rail corporation for carrying out the feasibility report and construction work on metro rail in Patna. The urban development department has already received consent from the central planning commission for providing its technical support for the metro rail project.

Apart from Patna, other upcoming metro rail projects are Kolkata metro rail (KMRC), Mumbai metro, Hyderabad metro, Chennai metro, Jaipur metro, Lucknow metro rail and the Bhopal Indore metro project has just been given a green signal by DMRC.

Kolkata metro rail which is being executed in two phases is expected to be completed by October 2014. The first phase of the project, which includes the elevated portion, is expected to start operations by March 2012. As part of the project 12 new stations will be constructed. Six of the stations will be underground while the others will be elevated. Construction of the underground sections will be carried out using a state-of-the-art tunnel boring method which will lead to minimal disruptions on the surface. The elevated viaduct will consist of a prestressed concrete U-shaped or box girder on a single pier with pile or open foundations.


The work on the first phase of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project (JMRC), which is estimated to cost Rs.12.50 billion (Rs.1,250 crore) will be completed by 2013. The first phase of the project, between Mansarovar and Chandpole, will be at a length of 9.2 km. The proposed second phase of the project, between Ambawadi and Sitapura at a length of nearly 27 km, will be constructed at a cost of Rs.78.50 billion (Rs.7,850 crore) and is likely to be operational from 2014.

According to the Mumbai Metro Master Plan - to be implemented in three phases and involving nine lines over 146.5 km, including 32.50 km underground - is estimated to cost nearly Rs.20,000 crore.

Besides the Versova-Ghatkopar section, Phase-I includes the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd (31.80 km) and Colaba-Bandra (20 km) sections. The work of first phase which costed 1,694 crore is already completed and expected to be operational in sometime this year.

Phase-II includes the following sections: Charkop-Dahisar (7.50 km), Ghatkopar-Mulund (12.50 km) and BKC-Kanjurmarg via Mumbai Airport (19.50 km).

Phase-III will connect Andheri east with Dahisar east (18 km), Ghatkopar with Flora Fountain (21.80 km) and Sewri with Prabhadevi -- an underground stretch the details of which are being finalised.