Chandigarh Metro, a projected fast transportation system, for this Indian union territory city of Chandigarh. The population of Chandigarh Urban Complex (CUC) has been rising over 5% since last decade and this is the main cause behind setting up of Metro services in Chandigarh. Owing to the increase in household incomes, Chandigarh has maximum per capita earnings in the country, there has been a substantial increase in vehicular numbers during this period which add to chaos in traffic and pollution. The nearby towns have also seen sharp increase in their population thereby putting tremendous pressure on existing public transport facilities. The commuters and people in general are using their own mode of conveyances due to the lack of good and necessary mass transport system. These all are not only leading to overcrowding on roads network but also adding to ecological pollution of beautiful Chandigarh.

Present road network is somewhat enough for now but the travelling corridors are becoming crowded day by day. The major roads do not have much space for widening, so travelling speeds are slow which indicates that the available space along road side should be used judiciously. Thus, now it is necessary to optimize the existing capacity by choosing the rapid modes of transportation.

Important junctions like Udyogpath, Himalaya Marg, Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg, Purv Marg and Jang Marg etc. have high degree of traffic and almost all crossroads have surpassed the capacity. The traffic is growing thus making the traffic situations on these junctions unbearable in near future.

Parking is also facing critical magnitudes in Chandigarh especially in sector 17. So, the parking facilities must also be increased substantially. Owing to all afore written reasons, alternative transport modes like Metro are needed to meet all transport adversities.

Routes of Chandigarh Metro

The various routes with projected corridors of Chandigarh Metro are mentioned below.

Future Plan

Metro Rail will build 37.6 km rail network out of which 23.5 km will be on a raised line whereas 14.1 km corridor will be underground. Corridor-I is planned to start from Northern side Capitol Complex to go up to southern side Mohali. The East West Corridor-II will begin from sector 21 East of Panchkula to reach Mullanpur in west.

Cost of Chandigarh Metro

The cost of Chandigarh Metro is likely to cost Rs. 114 billion (1.8 billion US $) out of this, Rs. 90 billion (1.4billion US$) will be contributed by the Administration of Chandigarh, Punjab Government will contribute Rs.17 billion (270 million US $) and the rest of the amount of about Rs.7 Billion (110 US $) will be borne by Haryana Government. The elevated portion of Chandigarh Metro is likely to cost about 1.5 billion (22 million US $) per km. The underground portion of Chandigarh Metro will cost around Rs.3.5 billion (56 million US $) per km. The completion of Chandigarh Metro will be done in two phases. The cost estimation of Phase-I is around RS. 90 billion (1.4 billion US $) and the Phase-II will cost around Rs. 24billion (380 million US $).