Urban rail transit in India

Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail, and tram systems.

According to a report published in 2021, a total of 2.63 billion people traveled annually in metro systems across India's seventeen major cities, placing the country as one of the busiest urban rapid transit hubs in the world in terms of commuters. The combined length of 945 kilometres (587 miles) of metro systems in India makes it the third longest in operation in the world.^[1]

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 as per the provisions of the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006.^[2]

The Delhi Meerut RRTS is the fastest Urban Transit system in India currently that can run at a speed of 160 kmph with average operational speed of 100 kmph.