Chandigarh Metro is an approved

rapid transit system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separated rapid transit line below ground surface through a t ...

to serve the Chandigarh Tricity Area, which includes

Chandigarh Tricity Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the rem ...

and adjacent areas in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

states of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In Phase-1, to be progressively built and operationalised between 2027 and 2034, 3 lines will connect tri-cities of Chandigarh,

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

in Punjab and

Panchkula Panchkula (ISO: ''Paṁcakulā'') is a city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district in Haryana, India. It is a satellite town of the state capital Chandigarh. Panchkula is a border city with Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh ...

in Haryana. Phase-2, to be constructed after 2034, will connect

Pinjore Pinjore is a town in Panchkula district in the Indian state of Haryana. This residential 'township', located close to Panchkula, Chandigarh, is set over 1,800 feet above the sea level in a valley, overlooking the Sivalik Hills. Pinjore is kn ...

in Haryana and further expand the network in Mohali with 2 more lines. The project, which was initially scrapped in 2017 due to low financial viability, was approved in March 2023 and received formal clearance in July 2024 from the governments of

and

after a

Detailed Project Report A project plan, is a series of structured tasks, objectives, and schedule to a complete a desired outcome, according to a project managers designs and purpose. According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), is: "...a formal, appro ...

(DPR) was created.

History

The

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is a centre-state joint venture that operates the Delhi Metro and Noida Metro. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is also involved in the planning and implementation of metro rail, monorail, and high-speed r ...

(DMRC), the agency operating and looking after

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system that serves Delhi and the adjoining satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Bahadurgarh, and Ballabhgarh in the National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region of India. The system cons ...

, submitted the

(DPR) of the Chandigarh Metro Project to the former Governor of Punjab and

administrator of Chandigarh The Administrator of Chandigarh is appointed by the President of India under article 239 of the Constitution of India. Since 1984, the Governor of Punjab has acted as the administrator of Chandigarh. The official residence is Raj Bhavan, P ...

Shivraj Patil Shivraj Patil (born 12 October 1935) is an Indian politician was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administrator of the U ...

, on 16 August 2012. Chandigarh Metor

On 9 July 2015, in the presence of

Kaptan Singh Solanki Kaptan Singh Solanki (born 1 July 1939) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the 17th governor of Tripura. From August 2009, he was the member of the parliament of India representing Madhya Pradesh State in the Rajya Sabha, ...

, the then the Governor of Punjab and administrator of Chandigarh, as well as the

Governor of Haryana This is a list of governors of the Indian state of Haryana, which was carved out from Punjab (India), Punjab on 1 November 1966. Governors of Haryana See also * Haryana * Governors of India References External links Raj Bhavan, Haryana
...

, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the Additional Chief Secretary and the secretary of Haryana Town and Country Planning Department, P. Raghavendra Rao, the Secretary of Town and Planning, Punjab, A. Venu Prasad, and the Adviser of the

Union Territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

(UT), Vijay Kumar Dev. As part of the MoU, the three parties also created a

special purpose vehicle A special-purpose entity (SPE), also called a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) or a financial vehicle corporation (FVC), is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited partnership) created to fulfill narrow, speci ...

(SPV) to execute the project as the Greater Chandigarh Transport Corporation (GCTC) for the development of comprehensive integrated multi-modal urban and suburban commuter system for the region. The initial equity of the GCTC shall be ₹ 100 crore, which would be contributed equally – 25 percent each – by the

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a ministry of the Government of India with executive authority over the formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in In ...

(MoHUA), the UT Administration, Haryana and Punjab. The project was scrapped in 2017 due to low viability, and stated that the rapid transit system in the tri-city would not be viable at least until 2051. However, the project was revived in November 2022 when

Rail India Technical and Economic Service RITES Ltd, formerly known as Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking and engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field of transport infrastructure. Established in 1974 by the In ...

(RITES) decided to re-plan the project and make it a reality in the forthcoming years, as the tri-city is having a combined population of around 3 million and is long facing traffic and frequent congestion, resulting in the increase in the number of accidents and other mishaps over time. It proposed to build a 64.5 km network connecting the three cities. In view of this, in March 2023, the project was given an in-principle approval by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. In July 2023, in a meeting of the governments of

and

and RITES, the project was cleared by the governments to progress after the detailed plan was created by RITES. The plan includes to divide the project into two phases, out of which the first phase will be constructed between 2027 and 2037 (later replanned to 2034) and will consist of three lines connecting three cities, while the second phase will consist of another two lines and will be constructed after 2034. The first phase will be built at a cost of ₹ 10,570 crore.

Lines

Phase 1

In the first phase, the first of the three lines will connect various areas within Chandigarh, and the other two lines will connect the tri-cities with each other. The network will be long, which increased the previous plan of by more than 24 km. Out of the 77-km network,

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

will have 35 km,

will have 11 km, and

and New Chandigarh together will have 31 km of network. It will be progressively built and operationalised between 2027 and 2034 at a cost of ₹ 10,570 crore, to be funded by the governments of Punjab and Haryana (20 percent), the Government of India (20 percent) and the remaining 60 percent by a lending agency to be selected. Its

(DPR) will be created by RITES, at a cost of ₹ 6.5 crore.

Line 1

Line 1 will be long. It will connect ISBT Panchkula to Panchkula Extension, wherein the localities of Sultanpur (New Chandigarh), Kurali, Sarangpur, Khuda Lahora, PGI,

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahor ...

, Transport Light, Sector 26, Chandigarh railway station, Mauli Jagran Road, Housing Board Chowk, Geeta Chowk (Panchkula), ISBT Panchkula, Maheshpur road, Amartex road, Sector 20 Panchkula and Panchkula Extension Sector 28 (Madanpur) will have stations.

Line 2

Line 2 will be long. It will connect

Rock Garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small ...

and

Sukhna Lake Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, India, is a reservoir at the foothills (Shivalik hills) of the Himalayas. This 3 km2 rain fed lake was created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a Intermittent river, seasonal stream coming down from the Shiv ...

to ISBT

Zirakpur Zirakpur is a planned satellite city, in Mohali District, Punjab, neighboring Mohali, Chandigarh in India. It is set on the foothills of Shivalik hills. It is part of the tehsil Dera Bassi. It is the gateway to Chandigarh from Delhi. It comp ...

via Industrial Area and

Chandigarh Airport Chandigarh Airport , officially Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, is an international airport serving the union territory of Chandigarh, India. The airport is located in Jhiurheri, Mohali, Punjab and shares space with the Indian Air F ...

, wherein the localities of Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake, Sector 17 Chandigarh, ISBT Sector 43, Fountain Chowk, Himalaya Marg, Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan (Mohali), Jail Road Chowk, Airport Chowk and Aerocity NH-7 Junction and ISBT Zirakpur. The route will join the ISBTs of Mohali and Zirakpur together, which are major transport hubs in the tri-city.

Line 3

Line 3 will be long. It will connect Grain Market Chowk, Sector 39 Chandigarh to Transport Chowk, Sector 26 Chandigarh, wherein the localities of Vikas Marg and Tribune Chowk will have stations in between the route.

Phase 2

The second phase of the project will consist of two more lines, taking the total number of lines to five. The network will be long, thereby increasing the total network length to . It will be constructed after 2037.

Line 1

Line 1 will be long. It will connect Airport Chowk to Manakpul Kallar.

Line 2

Line 2 will be long. It will connect ISBT Zirakpur to

Cost

The project is expected to cost , out of which will be borne by Chandigarh Administration, will be borne by Punjab Govt. and the remaining by Haryana Govt. The expected cost of the metro elevated section is per Km and that of the metro underground section is per Km. The metro will be completed in two phases. The estimated cost of Phase-I is and that of Phase-II is . The revised cost of the first phase of the project is ₹ 10,570 crore.

References

External links

Chandigarh Metro Rail Project
{{coord, 30.709, 76.801, display=title Proposed rapid transit in India Rail transport in Chandigarh Airport rail links in India Standard-gauge railways in India 2034 in rail transport