Ranchi Rails & Beyond: The Triple-City Metro Mission

The Hemant Soren–led Jharkhand government is stepping up preparatory work for proposed Metro rail projects in Ranchi, Dhanbad, and Jamshedpur to strengthen urban mobility and ease traffic congestion.

Planning is most advanced in Ranchi, where the Centre has granted in-principle approval and a revised Comprehensive Mobility Plan has been finalised. The project has now entered the stage of preparing the Alternative Analysis Report and the Detailed Project Report (DPR), which will determine alignments, technology options, and cost estimates. The proposed Ranchi Metro network is planned to span 51.3 km across three corridors, with an estimated daily ridership exceeding 70,000 passengers. The first corridor will run 16.1 km from Kachhari Gol Chakkar to Nayasarai, while the second corridor will cover 13.7 km between Pahartoli and Namkum.

The Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company has floated tenders for preparing the required reports, which will assess the feasibility of elevated and underground sections. In Jamshedpur and Dhanbad, RITES has received letters of acceptance to undertake similar studies. The metro projects across the three cities will be implemented in phases, beginning with detailed feasibility and planning assessments.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.