Ahmedabad Metro

Ahmedabad Metro is a rapid transit system for the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat state of India.

The Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited was established in February 2010 and the 40.03 km long Phase–1 of the project was approved in October 2013 with two corridors, North–South and East–West. The construction started on 14 March 2015. A 6.5 km section of East–West corridor was inaugurated on 4 March 2019 and opened to the public on 6 March 2019. The rest of the Phase–1 was inaugurated on 30 September 2022 and opened to public on 2 and 6 October 2022; except the Thaltej Gam end and three stations.

In January 2021, the construction of the 28.26 km long Phase-2 connecting Ahmedabad with Gandhinagar also started. The branch line connecting to GIFT City is expected to open in early 2024.

History
In 2003, Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board carried out the study for urban transport between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. It also carried out the detailed project report through Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and RITES and submitted it in June 2005 and received Central Government's approval in the same year. Following the estimated cost of inr 42950000000 and the study of the viability of the project, it was abandoned in 2005 to give priority to the Ahmedabad BRTS and suburban railway projects. In 2008, considering the future developments in and around Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the project was revived and new corridors were designed to make the project viable.

The special purpose vehicle company, Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Company Ltd, later renamed Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRC) in 2018, was established by Government of Gujarat on 4 February 2010 with inr 2020000000. Later in 2014, it was decided that the Central Government will own 50% of the company.

Phase-1
On 19 October 2014, Union Cabinet of India approved inr 107730000000 for the Phase–1. The Central Government approved the use of unused Western Railways land along the Botad-Sabarmati meter gauge line in November 2014. The original plan of Metro along Ashram Road was tweaked and the track was moved westward. The new plan added the cost of inr 6000000000 and two more stations. The new plan helped by causing fewer problems in land acquisition and less congestion on Ashram Road. In 2015 budget of Gujarat, inr 6110000000 was further allocated for the metro. The ground breaking ceremony was held on 14 March 2015 for the construction of 6.5 km long Vastral – Apparel Park stretch of East–West corridor in presence of then Gujarat Chief Minister, Anandiben Patel. The ground-breaking ceremony for North-South Corridor was held on 17 January 2016 in presence of the then Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel. The work started in March 2016. The Indian Railways permitted the construction of North–South corridor stretch on its land in June 2016. Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) agreed to fund inr 59680000000 for Phase-1 of the project in November 2015 and the first tranche of inr 44560000000 was released in 2016.

The trial runs were carried out in February 2019 on 6.5 km long Vastral – Apparel Park section of Phase-1. The section was inaugurated on 4 March 2019 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It opened to the public on 6 March 2019. The 1.4 km-long Thaltej-Thaltej Gam section and three metro stations (Kankaria East, Thaltej Gam and Sabarmati) will be completed by December 2023. The rest of the Phase-1 was inaugurated on 30 September 2022 by Prime Minister Modi. The east–west corridor and the north–south corridor were opened to public on 2 October 2022 and 6 October 2022 respectively. The cost of Phase-1 construction was inr 129000000000. The Kankaria East station was opened on 5 March 2024.

Phase-2
The Government of Gujarat approved the Phase-2 in October 2017 and revised it in October 2018. In February 2019, the Union cabinet approved the Phase-2 worth cost of inr 53841700000. It will extend the north–south corridor from Motera in Ahmedabad to Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar (23.838 km) with a branch line from Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) linking Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU) and GIFT City (5.416 km). The Phase-2 will have total 28.26 km-long elevated corridor with 22 stations.

The tendering for the Phase-2 began in January 2020. On 18 January 2021, the foundation stone of the Phase-2 was laid by Prime Minister Modi. The branch line connecting to GIFT City is expected to open in early 2024.

In February 2023, Titagarh Rail Systems won a contract worth inr 3500000000 for providing rolling stock for the Phase-2. The trial run of Phase-2 started in February 2024 between GNLU and Dholakuva Circle stations and the section between Motera Stadium and Sector 1 is expected to open in May–June 2024.

Operations
The metro started commercial operations in March 2019. Over 7.1 lakh people had travelled by metro till June 2022 but the monthly ridership had never exceeded 38,137 which is the highest ridership registered in March 2019 due to short length of the opened corridor then. The most riders were identified as those taking joyrides.

Following opening of the Phase-1 in September 2022, the ridership increased significantly. In one year from October 2022 to 28 September 2023, more than 186,36,388 people travelled via metro with average daily ridership of 90,000 on normal days and 75,000 on holidays; averaging 51,000 riders a day. It earned inr 280000000 from tickets in the same period.

Controversy
Near Thaltej Gam on western side, 300-odd shop owners opposed the land acquisition while the officials said that there is need of huge land for depot and parking for the project. The land acquisition is also opposed by the residents and shop owners of Jivraj Park in Vejalpur area. They had filed a case in Gujarat High Court. They settled the case in September 2017. Former IAS officer and executive chairman of project Sanjay Gupta and seven of his subordinate officers were accused while two of them were arrested in May 2015 for alleged committed fraud of inr 1130000000 in procurement and use of ground filling materials for the project in 2012. Another case regarding procurement of 603 tons of TMT steel worth inr 26200000 which was never delivered is also being investigated.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has pointed out wasteful expenditure of inr 3736200000 on earlier unapproved corridors.