Transport in Delhi

Overview of transport in Delhi, India

Delhi has significant reliance on its transport infrastructure. The city has developed a highly efficient public transport system with the introduction of the Delhi Metro, which is undergoing a rapid modernization and expansion since 2006. There are 16.6 million registered vehicles in the city as of 30 June 2014, which is the highest in the world among all cities, most of which do not follow any pollution emission norm (within municipal limits), while the Delhi metropolitan region (NCR Delhi) has 11.2 million vehicles. Delhi and NCR lose nearly 42 crore (420 million) man hours every month while commuting between home and office through public transport, due to the traffic congestion. Therefore, serious efforts, including a number of transport infrastructure projects, are under way to encourage usage of public transport in the city.

Prior to independence in the 1940s, public transport in the city was in private hands, with people relying mainly on tongas and the bus service of the 'Gwalior Transport Company' and 'Northern India Transport Company'. But with the growing city, it soon proved inadequate, thus Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus system was established in May 1948. The next big leap in city transport was the opening of Delhi Metro, a rapid transit system in 2002.

Public transport in the metropolis includes the Delhi Metro, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System) bus system, auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, e rickshaws, Grameen Seva and taxis. With the introduction of Delhi Metro, a rail based mass rapid transit system, rail based transit systems have gained ground. Other means of transit include suburban railways, inter state bus services and private taxis which can be rented for various purposes. However, buses continue to be the most popular means of transportation for intra city travel, catering to about 60% of the total commuting requirements. Private vehicles account for 30% of the total demand for transport, while the rest of the demand is met largely by auto rickshaws, taxis, rapid transit system and railways. Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) serves Delhi for both domestic and international air connections, and is situated in the south western corner of the city. In 2009–2010, IGI recorded a traffic of more than 25.01 million passengers, both Domestic and International. Heavy air traffic has emphasised the need for a secondary airport, which is expected to be Taj International Airport near Greater Noida, alongside the Delhi Agra highway. The only international rail service in Delhi was the Samjhauta Express to Lahore,which was stopped in 2019 following a standoff. It is possible to change trains to board rail services to Bangladesh and Nepal which commence in other cities of India. For the future, a high speed rail link is being considered that would link New Delhi with Kunming, China via Myanmar

Roads in Delhi are maintained by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Cantonment Board, Public Works Department and Delhi Development Authority. At 1749 km of road length per 100 km2, Delhi has one of the highest road densities in India. Major roadways include the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road, which had a traffic density of 110,000 vehicles per day in 2001. Total road length of Delhi was 28,508 km including 388 km of National Highways. Major road based public transport facilities in Delhi are provided by DTC buses, auto rickshaws, taxis and cycle rickshaws.

The auto rickshaws (popularly known as Auto) are an important and popular means of public transportation in Delhi, as they are cheaper than taxis. Hiring an Auto in Delhi is very tricky, as very few auto drivers agree to standard meter charges. The typical method is to haggle for an agreeable rate.

Though easily available, taxis are not an integral part of Delhi public transport. There are over 113 registered taxis. The Indian Tourism Ministry and various private owners operate most taxis. The Tourism Ministry grants private companies permits to operate taxis. Recently, Radio Taxis have started to gain ground in Delhi. Some companies provide an on call radio taxi service, which is slightly more expensive than conventional Black and Yellow taxis.

Cycle rickshaws are a popular mode of travel for short distance transits in the city. The pedal powered rickshaws are easily available throughout the city and reckoned for being cheap and environment friendly. Often, tourists and citizens use them for joyrides, too. Of late, they have been phased out from the congested areas of Chandni Chowk because of their slow pace, which often leads to traffic snarls on the streets of Old Delhi. Still, they are the great source of public transport in Delhi.

Inner Ring Road is one of the most important "state highways" in Delhi. It is a 51 km long circular road, which connects Northern, eastern, Western and Southern areas in Delhi. Owing to more than 2 dozen grade separators/flyovers, the road is almost signal free. The road is generally 8 laned with a few bottlenecks at certain stretches, which are being removed. The road has already achieved its carrying capacity of 110000 vehicles per day and would require an addition of more lanes to fulfill needs of increasing traffic by 2011.

Outer Ring Road is another major artery in Delhi. The road which was almost neglected till the early 2000s is now an important highway that links far flung areas of Delhi. The road is 6 8 lane and has grade separators and a large number are under construction as a part of project to make the artery signal free. The road along with the ring road forms a ring which intersects all the National Highways passing through Delhi.

Delhi is connected by NH 1, NH 2, NH 8, NH 10 and NH 24. It also has three expressways (six and eight lane) that connect it with its suburbs. Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway connects Delhi with one of its financial hubs, Gurgaon, DND Flyway connects Delhi with its other financial hub, Noida and Delhi–Faridabad Skyway which connects Faridabad, major suburb to Delhi. Four more expressways are also planned. Noida–Greater Noida Expressway connects Noida with Greater Noida, which is an upcoming financial and commercial hub and is also to have a new Jewar International Airport. A 135.6 km long Western Peripheral Expressway, also known as the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway, which became operational on 19 November 2018, will relieve Delhi of the congestion of heavy night traffic and will act as a bypass for the night vehicles. NH 24 or Ghaziabad Road is a four lane national highway which connects Delhi to Lucknow via Ghaziabad. As the Commonwealth Village is located close by Yamuna bridge on this highway, underpasses and flyover being built will help facilitate traffic between the eastern areas of Delhi/ Western UP and the rest of the city.

Rail based transport in the city has started to gain popularity with the introduction of Delhi Metro. Ring Railway, which runs parallel to the Ring Road system is another rail based intra city transport facility in Delhi.

Ring railway is a 35 kilometre circular railway network in Delhi that runs parallel to the Ring Road. It was laid back in 1975 primarily to service freight trains that could bypass the crowded and passenger heavy Old Delhi and New Delhi railway stations. The network was upgraded for the 1982 Asian Games with the introduction of 24 additional services. Its circular route is 35 km (22 mi) long, which the trains takes 90–120 minutes to complete, both clockwise and anti clockwise, via the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. The ring railway service was quite popular through the 80s and 90s when Delhi's transport infrastructure was just gathering pace, but since then, with the rapid expansion of the Delhi Metro coupled with an extensive bus network, the ring railway has remained neglected by the city as well as the Railways. On average, only 3700 passengers take the trains every day. The biggest reason for the failure of the railway is a lack of a feeder network, such as approach roads and feeder buses to the stations. The stations are situated at remote locations and are difficult to access by passengers. There is also a problem of security as many stations have been encroached. The trains on this network also run behind schedule most of the time. The network is now utilized as a freight corridor and limited passenger train services are available during peak hours.

Delhi is connected to whole of the nation through Indian Railways vast network. New Delhi Railway Station which is one of the most busiest stations in Indian Railway system serves as headquarters of Northern Railways. A large load of inter state transport is borne by railways. A large number of local passenger trains connect Delhi to its sub urban areas and thus provide convenient travel for daily commuters. Railways also share a large amount of freight traffic in Delhi.

The city is believed to have the highest road density in the country and is well connected to the rest of the nation through five major national highways, namely NH 1, NH 2, NH 8, NH 10 and NH 24. The highways around city are being upgraded into expressways with ultra modern facilities.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) serves Delhi for both domestic and international connections, and is situated in the southwestern corner of the city, alongside Delhi Gurgaon Expressway. In the year 2015–16, IGI recorded a traffic of over 48 million passengers. Being the busiest airport in the South Asian region, IGI airport has three terminals Terminal 1 & Terminal 2 for domestic operations only and Terminal 3 with mixed use i. e. primary International and the rest of the domestic operations(Vistara and Air India) in addition of T1 & T2

The airport was and still witnessing massive expansion and modernisation by a consortium led by GMR Infra. The new Terminal T3 was inaugurated in 2010 in line of the historic Commonwealth Games being held and Delhi is today India's only city to have an airport of this size. Terminals 4, 5 and 6 will be built in a phased manner. By 2024, airport will have four runways and will handle more than 100 million passengers per year. Hindon Domestic Airport in Ghaziabad was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the second airport for the Delhi NCR Region on the 8 March 2019. Apart from the expanded IGI airport, Delhi might also receive a second international airport by 2024. The airport, being named as Taj International Aviation Hub, is proposed to be located in Jewar in Greater Noida. It would be around 75 km from IGI airport.

There are many transport infrastructure projects underway in Delhi. Most had their deadlines set in late 2009 and early 2010, just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As of 2023, most of them have been completed. They are listed below

Upgrading of New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations of Northern Railways. Delhi metro has new line of super fast Delhi Airport Express Line having maximum speed of 135 km/h line to connect to IGI Airport. Introduction of Monorail (45 km) and Light Rail Transit has been aborted till 2010. Reintroducing Trams in the Chandni Chowk and Red Fort areas of the city. Anand Vihar Railway Terminal to reduce the train loads over Old Delhi Station and New Delhi Railway Station. Besides that the station will also serve the densely populated Eastern part of Delhi, along with the neighbouring suburbs of Ghaziabad and Noida. A high speed rail link that would link New Delhi with Kunming, China via Myanmar Government has already approved construction of the road connecting Faridabad and Greater Noida that will improve the connectivity with clearances received from both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Governments The much awaited FNG (Faridabad Noida Ghaziabad Expressway) is finally coming on track and will provide fast connectivity to daily commuters of the area once complete; apart from this, it is also emerging as an excellent stretch for real estate development. FNG Expressway is around 56 km long with 19.9 km in Noida–Greater Noida region, 8 km in Ghaziabad, while the rest 28.1 km is in the Faridabad region, especially the developing sectors of Neharpar Faridabad or Greater Faridabad. According to the plan, FNG from Noida side will become operational in the next 14 months while it would take three years for the whole stretch to become fully operational. The completed expressway designed by IIT Roorkee will offer commuters direct connectivity between Noida and Greater Faridabad
DND–KMP Expressway project has been approved in March 2019 which will connect DND Flyway at Maharani Bagh, Delhi to Faridabad bypass road near Badarpur border. According to Public Works Department officials, the bypass will connect the DND Flyway, cutting across the Agra Canal along the Yamuna, which runs perpendicular to Sarita Vihar and ends near Badarpur border, which further connects to Faridabad. "Commuters heading from east Delhi, South Delhi and Noida to Faridabad will be able to avoid the road to Ashram Chowk completely and that will help de congest the area for local users. The estimated cost of the project is INR 3,580 crores and will be completed in three phases. In the first phase, the stretch from Maharani Bagh (at DND Flyway) to Kalindi Kunj will be completed. In the second phase, the stretch from Kalindi Kunj to Faridabad will see completion. The third phase will be from Sector 62/65 dividing road in Faridabad to KMP Expressway interchange near Sohna." The bypass will dramatically reduce travel time between Delhi and Faridabad as it will serve as an alternative to Mathura Road. Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre gave the Public Works Department its consent to move ahead after Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung gave the approval to the project.

Revamp of IGI Airport is underway to improve its infrastructure, passenger capacity and efficiency. Jewar Airport in Gautam Budhh Nagar district will start operations in 2025. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the Rohini Heliport on February 28, 2017.

Owing to a large number of complaints from consumers, the Delhi Government in association with Delhi Traffic Police runs a staffed transport helpline which can be reached at 011 23010101 while dialing from within the city. Citizens can make traffic related complaints and suggestions. One can also report traffic violations observed and misbehavior/refusal/overcharging by autorickshaws, buses and taxis.