Lucknow Metro is a rapid transit system serving the largest city and the capital of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

. Construction of the line begun on 27 September 2014 with the stretch from to Charbagh Railway Station which began its commercial operation on 5 September 2017. Full operation on Red Line stretch from to began operation on 9 March 2019. The Lucknow metro project is the most expensive transport system in Uttar Pradesh to date with an estimated total cost for Phase 1A (Red Line) and 1B (Blue Line) of about $2 billion, of which is being spent on phase 1A. The

Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation The Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) is a joint venture company that operates the Lucknow Metro and Kanpur Metro. The UPMRC is also constructing the Agra Metro and Meerut Metro, with the Varanasi Metro, Allahabad Metro, Gorakhpur M ...

, a 50:50 joint venture between the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President ...

, was established to build and operate the metro.

History

The original design of the metro project included one north-south and one east-west corridor, with links through Gomti Nagar. Estimated costs for the north-south corridor were , for the east-west corridor and for the link through Gomti Nagar. The initial layout of the east-west corridor started from Rajajipuram and ended at Hahnemann, after passing through

Gomti Nagar Gomti Nagar is an area in the Indian city of Lucknow consisting of both residential and business settlements. It is one of the largest and fast growing areas of Lucknow. It is also considered as Asia's largest Colony. It is home to high-end res ...

via

Hazratganj Hazratganj is the downtown and the main shopping centre of Lucknow, the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In addition to bazaars, it also contains shopping complexes, restaurants, hotels, theaters, cafés and man ...

and Patrakarpuram, a distance of . However, in 2010 the design was changed so the corridor started from Vasant Kunj and terminated at Charbagh, a revised distance of . The design of north–south corridor had two elevated sections, with a total distance of , separated by a . The length of the ramps between the elevated and below ground sections would total . When completed, the corridor would run for a total distance of and connect Amausi airport to Munshipulia. Passengers would be served by a total of 22 stations, with 19 elevated and 3 below ground. Elevated stations were to be located at , , , , , , , , , . Following Charbagh station, the line descends underground where , (Uttar Pradesh Secretariat) and stations are located. The line then returns above ground for the remaining stations of the corridor, , , , , , , and the terminus at . The metro could accommodate speeds up to but the typical usage would be at speeds of for the north–south corridor and for the east–west corridor. Originally, the metro trains were to be housed in one of two depots, a depot at Vasant Kunj and another at the airport, but due to security concerns the airport depot was removed from the plan. In 2013, a report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Planning of the

resulted in major changes to the metro project. The two corridor design was scrapped and replaced with one featuring a denser network of connectivity. This revision resulted in the layout of route being entirely elevated with no underground sections. The increased coverage of the metro would raise the cost of the project but reduced the operating cost per km. The reduction in operating cost is impacted by the difference in construction costs of the line itself, one km of overhead track costs as compared to for an underground track. The underground design also raised concerns about safety as well as increased energy consumption. The report also proposed the construction of an elevated

Bus Rapid Transit System Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

(BRTS) as a feeder service to the metro.

Project timeline

* September 2008: DMRC submits a concept paper after the Lucknow metro rail project is proposed by the

headed by chief minister

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...

. * February 2009: An agreement is signed between DMRC and LDA. * June 2013: The state cabinet headed by chief minister

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist * Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University *Ak ...

gives clearance for the metro rail network. The state cabinet also gave approval for the creation of

. * August 2013:

approves the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by DMRC. * October 2013: LMRC, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is formed by the

to build and operate the Lucknow Metro. The SPV is incorporated under the ''Companies Act, 1956'' on 25 November 2013. Construction Phase to begin in December. * November 2013: DMRC submits tender for Lucknow Metro work, promises to complete the first phase by Feb 2017. * December 2013:

, in principle, approves the project. * March 2014: Foundation stone laid for Lucknow Metro project. * 10 July 2014: set aside for Lucknow Metro in the union budget, by

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jai ...

Red Line

* 27 September 2014: Construction begins on the Lucknow Metro. * 6 August 2015: Lucknow Metro receives clearance from Public Investment Board (PIB) of

. * 22 December 2015: Union Cabinet approves construction of Rail Project Phase - 1A. * 30 March 2016: To speed up clearance processes for Lucknow Metro, LMRC becomes a 50:50 joint venture between the

and the

. As a result, the LMRC board is reconstituted with five nominee directors being nominated by both

and

each, apart from the three full-time directors. Additionally, the Chief Secretary of

is replaced by the Union Urban Development Secretary as the ''

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' chairman of LMRC. * 18 September 2016: 90% of the work completed in the construction of Rail Project Phase - 1A. * 20 October 2016: Lucknow metro begins work on Faizabad Road, does Bhoomi puja for Phase 1A Extension.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/lucknow/Lucknow-metro-begins-work-on-Faizabad-Road-does-Bhoomi-puja-for-remaining-corridor/articleshow/54965101.cms * 1 December 2016: The Uttar Pradesh chief minister

and

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With a ...

chief Mulayam Singh flagged off the train at the Transport Nagar depot on a trial run on priority section till the . The inaugural ride was piloted by two women. * 20 June 2017: Fifth metro train set arrives at Transport Nagar depot. * 8 July 2017: Sixth and final metro train set arrives for first phase requirement. * 27–28 July 2017: The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CMRS) performs on-site inspection to confirm readiness of the Metro for service. * 29 August 2017: Inauguration ceremony, on 5 September 2017, confirmed. Announcement that metro trains will run between Transport Nagar and Charbagh. * 5 September 2017:

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

and chief minister,

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born on 5 June 1972 as Ajay Singh Bisht),

inaugurate Lucknow metro for service between and . * 23 February 2019: Work on whole of North-South Corridor (Red Line) completed, CMRS approves for commercial run. Full line to be inaugurated on 8 March 2019. * 8 March 2019: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

inaugurates full stretch of Red Line of Lucknow Metro.

Blue Line

* Aug 2019: Modified DPR is yet to be approved by state government and also LMRC is yet to get land for Metro deport which is to come up near upcoming .

Current status

Phase I

Funding

Over 50% of the Lucknow Metro rail project is funded through external debt from

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solution ...

. The Lucknow Metro has its own operating body, the

, is a

Special Purpose Vehicle A special-purpose entity (SPE; or, in Europe and India, special-purpose vehicle/SPV; or, in some cases in each EU jurisdiction, FVC, financial vehicle corporation) is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited ...

(SPV) and a 50:50

Joint Venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

set-up by the

and

. LMRC is headquartered in Vipin Khand,

, Lucknow.

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

On 5 October 2015,

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational corporation, multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the A ...

was awarded a contract to construct twenty four car EMU for Phase 1A, based on their Metropolis design. The vehicles are to be constructed at Alstom's factory in

Sricity Sri City or Satyavedu Reserve Infracity Pvt. Ltd. is an integrated business city (township) and special economic zone located in Tirupati district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It was founded in 2008 and has now become one of the coveted ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Station facilities

WiFi is available at each station with free access for smart card holders. Other services include free purified drinking water and free toilets. The north–south corridor of the Lucknow Metro uses an automated fare collection (AFC) system, provided by Datamatics. Singar Nagar Metro Station

Security

Lucknow Metro's security is based on a hybrid model. The

Lucknow City Police The Lucknow Police Commissionerate (Hindi: लखनऊ पुलिस आयुक्तालय) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Lucknow, the capital and the largest city of Uttar Pradesh. It is a police unit of Uttar ...

, which has raised a dedicated squad of 393 personnel for this purpose from PAC, provides general security, which includes frisking, scanning, maintaining and having quick response teams (QRT) as per security norms, while a private security agency provides operational security, which including maintaining hygiene of the station and ensuring that people queue properly. Personnel from the PAC were especially trained for providing security by the

Central Industrial Security Force The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is a federal police organisation in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). CISF provides security to over 356 industrial units (including ...

(CISF) in New Delhi. Apart from this,

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

and

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

s are installed at every metro station.

Ticketing and recharge

Ridership

The cumulative ridership of the metro rail in Lucknow crossed 1 million in the first 70 days of commercial operation; the rapid-transit system received 31,688 passengers on its inaugural day of services, and recorded a ridership of 41,075 on 10 September. , the daily ridership of Lucknow Metro ranges between 10,000 and 11,000; with monthly ridership being 480,000 in September 2017, 400,000 in October 2017, 300,000 in November and December 2017, and around 300,000 in January, February, March and April 2018. As of 2019, as many as 60,000 people are using metro service on a daily basis in Lucknow.

In popular culture

In January 2017, Hindi film ''

Behen Hogi Teri ''Behen Hogi Teri'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film starring Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan. This film was scheduled for a worldwide release on 26 May 2017, but release was pushed back to 9 June 2017. Plot In the ...

'' became the first film to shoot scenes on the metro premises.

Awards

* Lucknow Metro was awarded 2nd Place for 'Best Metro for Excellence in Innovative Designs' at 5th Annual Metro Rail Summit in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

behind the

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colou ...

. It competed against the other metro projects of the country like Mumbai Metro,

Jaipur Metro The Jaipur Metro(Hindi: जयपुर मेट्रो) is a rapid transit system in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Construction on the mostly elevated part of the first line, called Phase 1A, comprising of route from Mansarovar ...

etc. *

(LMRC) was awarded the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR) Choice Prize Award 2016 under the Gold category, a

vanity award A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for ''Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for awar ...

. * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation won the

Dun & Bradstreet The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk and financia ...

Infra Award in 2017 in the Metro Rail category for completing "Priority Corridor" of the North –South Corridor (Phase 1A) and commissioning the project in a record time of less than three years. . * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation won the International ' Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' (RoSPA) Award. LMRC was given the Silver Award for its Phase 1A (North-South Corridor) in the Project/Infrastructure category for the year 2018. * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation was certified with the highest green rating (i.e. the Platinum Rating) by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation has

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in A ...

(ISO) 14001: 2004 & Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Series ( OHSAS) 18001: 2007 certificates in recognition of the organisation's integrated management system in compliance with ISO & OHSAS standards and requirements. * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation was awarded the ''"Best Urban Mass Transit"'' project during the 10th Urban Mobility India Conference & Exhibition and CODATU XVII Conference under

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 Ind ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

in November 2017. * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation's managing director, Kumar Keshav, was awarded with the 'Shaan-E-Lucknow' award by the organisers of the Lucknow Book Fair and a special postal envelope cover bearing the logo, symbol and mnemonic of Lucknow Metro was released. * Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation won the first Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Award on Innovation in governance on 15 October 2016.

Network Map

References

External links

Official Website of Lucknow Metro

''UrbanRail.Net''
nbsp;– descriptions of all metro systems in the world, each with a schematic map showing all stations. {{authority control Airport rail links in India Underground rapid transit in India Japan International Cooperation Agency Standard gauge railways in India 2017 establishments in Uttar Pradesh