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National

Work underway on 998 km more metro lines: Minister

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 25 Oct 2026 1 hour ago

Bhubaneswar: Work is underway on an additional 998 km of metro rail lines across India, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said on Friday. Inaugurating the 19th Urban Mobility India Conference and Exhibition 2026 here, Sahu said urban development should be measured by how safely, comfortably and independently people, particularly women, children, senior citizens and persons with disabilities, can travel within cities.

The two-day conference, being held in Odisha for the first time, is organised by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) through the Institute of Urban Transport (India), with support from the State government.This year’s theme is ‘Urban Accessibility and Liveability in Digital Age’.

Highlighting the expansion of metro rail infrastructure under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, Sahu said India’s operational metro network had grown from 248 km in 2014 to over 1,185 km across 26 cities.

“The work is underway on another 998 kilometres of metro lines. The expansion of metro networks, along with initiatives such as the National Common Mobility Card, QR-based ticketing and PM e-Bus Sewa, is transforming urban mobility and making public transport more accessible and sustainable,” he said.

Odisha Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said urban mobility was not merely about transportation but also about improving people’s quality of life and making cities more accessible, inclusive and sustainable.“As Odisha’s cities expand, the State is focusing on safe, reliable, affordable and people-centric public transport systems,” he said.

Initiatives such as Ama Bus and Ama E-Ride were aimed at making urban travel more convenient for students, working professionals, women and other commuters, he added.Chief Secretary Anu Garg said Odisha was committed to transforming urban mobility through an “8S approach”, focusing on service access and reliability, smart mobility, sustainability, systems, safety, seamlessness, inclusivity and commuter satisfaction.

With around 800 buses serving eight cities, the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) was strengthening public transport through digital ticketing, greater participation of women drivers and improved commuter convenience, she said.

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