Gurgaon: Nearly 81 lakh passengers travelled on the Rapid Metro network during the first five months of this year, a 9.4% increase from the corresponding period last year, an HMRTC official said on Monday.The figures were presented at a board meeting chaired by Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi, which reviewed progress on several Metro and RRTS corridors.The network carried 73.81 lakh passengers during the same period in 2025. The corporation also recorded an operational surplus of Rs 9.18 crore during the period, reversing a deficit of Rs 1.98 crore a year ago. Total income rose to Rs 35 crore from Rs 23.76 crore, while expenditure remained largely unchanged at Rs 25.82 crore.The improvement was driven largely by non-fare revenue, which jumped to Rs 16.16 crore from Rs 6.42 crore last year, with advertising rights, commercial utilisation of metro assets, and station-based business activities contributing significantly. Fare revenue also grew by more than 10%.The board also discussed plans to enhance non-fare revenue further, including through station naming rights. “Earlier, we had planned to award these rights for five years but could not proceed due to some legal aspects. This has now been cleared and the tender process will be taken forward,” an official said.The proposed Metro link between Gurgaon and Delhi’s Dwarka was also taken up at the meeting. DMRC had separately prepared a draft DPR for extending the Airport Express Line from Yashobhoomi Metro station to Rajiv Chowk in Gurgaon, and another for a corridor between Dwarka Sector 21 and Gurgaon Sector 21. The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs has since directed DMRC to integrate the two proposals into a single corridor routed through Bijwasan and Kapashera. DMRC is conducting a fresh route survey and the revised alignment will be finalised once the exercise is complete.A separate DMRC proposal — for Metro connectivity between Yashobhoomi station in Dwarka Sector 25 on the Airport Express Line and IFFCO Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway — remains pending, with HMRTC yet to receive the DPR.The board reviewed several other proposed corridors. The DPR for the 35.25-km elevated Sector 56–Panchgaon Metro corridor, with 28 stations, has been completed and is being placed before the chief minister for approval. The proposed 30.3-km Ballabhgarh-Palwal Metro extension, the Bahadurgarh-Asaudha corridor, and the Narela-Kundli Metro extension were also reviewed. For the Narela-Kundli project, the Haryana govt has granted in-principle approval for the allotment of 10 hectares of land free of cost.Progress on the revised DPR of the Delhi-Panipat-Karnal Namo Bharat corridor was also discussed. The 136.3-km regional rapid transit project, estimated to cost over Rs 33,000 crore, has received approvals from both the Haryana govt and Public Investment Board. The proposed Gurgaon-Faridabad-Noida-Greater Noida Namo Bharat corridor was also taken up at the meeting.
