Work underway on over 1,000-km-long metro network in 27 cities: PM Modi

Work is in progress on over 1,000 km long metro rail network in 27 cities in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

He was speaking after performing the ground breaking ceremony of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Surat Metro Rail Project via video conferencing.

"There was a time when there was no modern thinking and policy on metro in our country. The result was that there was a different (type of) metro in each city," Modi said.

Stating that the metro network in Ahmedabad and Surat will further strengthen the connectivity in the two major business centres of the country, Modi said the government is developing an integrated urban transport system.

The difference between the approach of his government and the previous governments is the (pace of) expansion of the metro rail network across the country, he said.

"Before 2014, only 225 km of metro line became operational in 10-12 yrs. In the last six years, over 450 km of metro network became operational," Modi said.

The Ahmedabad and Surat metro projects are expected to provide an environment friendly Mass Rapid Transit System to these cities.

The Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II is 28.25 km long with two corridors. While corridor-1 is 22.8 km long and is from Motera Stadium to Mahatma Mandir, corridor-2 is 5.4 km long and is from GNLU to GIFT-City. The total completion cost of the Phase-II project is Rs 5,384 crore, an official said.

The Surat Metro Rail Project is 40.35 km long and comprises two corridors. While corridor-1 is 21.61 km long and is from Sarthana to Dream City. Corridor-2 is 18.74 km long and is from Bhesan to Saroli. The completion cost of the project Rs 12,020 crore.