Seven Indian cities run metro rail today — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune — with more than 40 lines and 744 km of network mapped on this atlas. Here is how each system fits together and where it is heading next.

The big picture

Delhi is the anchor — 390+ km, 285 stations, 14 lines including the Yellow, Blue, Red and Pink corridors and the Airport Express. No other city is at that scale yet. The next tier is Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — 150 to 200 km planned each, with airport links that matter for intercity travellers. Chennai and Kolkata are smaller but strategically important: Chennai’s Phase 2 (Madhavaram–SIPCOT Purple Line) and Kolkata’s East–West Green Line (Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan, including the Hooghly tunnel) extend reach to suburbs and the IT corridor.

City by city — what to know

  • Delhi (DMRC): 14 lines, moving-block signalling, 80 km/h design speed. Interchanges at Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Hauz Khas and Botanical Garden do most of the network work. Phase 4 extensions are underway.
  • Mumbai (MMRC/MMRDA): Line 1 (Versova–Ghatkopar) is the workhorse; Line 2A and 7 cover the western suburbs; Line 3 is the underground north–south spine (Aarey JVLR to Cuffe Parade).
  • Bengaluru (Namma Metro, BMRCL): Purple (Whitefield–Challaghatta) and Green (Nagasandra–Silk Institute) are operational; Yellow (RV Road–Bommasandra) and the Blue Line (Central Silk Board to KIAL Terminals, 30 stations) are the airport-and-outer-ring project. Blue Line Phase 2A geometry is snapped to Outer Ring Road; Phase 2B follows the airport road.
  • Hyderabad (HMRL): Red (Miyapur–LB Nagar), Blue (Nagole–Raidurg) and Green (JBS–MGBS) form an elevated 69 km base, with Phase 2 extensions planned.
  • Chennai (CMRL): Blue (Wimco Nagar–Airport) and Green (Chennai Central–St Thomas Mount) are operational; Purple (Madhavaram–SIPCOT) is Phase 2.
  • Kolkata (Metro Railway): India’s first metro, now with the Green Line’s underwater Hooghly crossing (Sealdah–Howrah) and north–south Blue Line extensions to Dakshineswar and Kavi Subhash.
  • Pune (Maha-Metro): Purple (PCMC–Swargate) and Aqua (Vanaz–Ramwadi) total about 33 km, connecting the historic core with Civil Court, Shivajinagar and the north-west expansion.

How network maps are built

Operational lines on this atlas use station sequences from OpenStreetMap subway relations or hand-maintained anchors where OSM is incomplete. Bengaluru’s Blue Line is flagged as “upcoming” for that reason — its coordinates are corridor anchors, not published station-centre coordinates. Upcoming lines retain their hand-maintained sequences alongside imported operational ones so you see the full planned network.

How to plan a journey

Pick the city on the metro overview, open the network, then open the line. Each line page has the ordered stop list, interchanges (stations shared with other lines), travel time estimate, first and last train, and every other line in that city one click away. Cross-check the operator’s timetable for first and last train — the atlas shows the published window and updates it when the operator revises it.