Introduction

Since its inception in 2002, Delhi Metro has rapidly expanded and developed throughout the national capital region and its peripheries. Today, more than two decades after its beginning, the Delhi metro’s daily ridership has reached 7.15 million in 2022-23 [1], while annual ridership touched 1.79 billion [2]. Furthermore, the Delhi metro is commonly used by people to commute daily, or even occasionally, as a safer, faster, and more efficient alternative to other sorts of prevailing public transportation.

Historical Context

The need for a mass transit system in Delhi was mentioned for the first time in 1969 in a traffic and travel characteristics study done by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) [3]. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was established in 1995 and began construction of the Metro in 1998, by the end of 2002, the first elevated metro station became operational. The concept of Metro as a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, was born out of the phenomenon of globalization and the ideals of neoliberalism. It was “built with Japanese loans, South Korean technology, and partnerships with a number of countries, including Germany and Sweden, where the first trains were built”[4]. Metro was introduced with the aim of ‘modernizing’ Delhi and subsequently elevating it to the standards of a world-class city by revolutionizing the public transportation system which would consequently make Delhi an attraction for international investments. The Metro aimed to drastically transform Delhi by reducing traffic congestion, protecting the environment, increasing economic investments, and providing safer, faster, and cheaper transportation.

Gender & Metro

Almost 33% of the Delhi Metro passengers are women (5). However, there exists barely any data to study the class division of women commuting by the Delhi metro. Albeit, even a preliminary observation would suffice to reflect that women belonging to the working-class and lower-middle-class base, are alienated from the metro’s transit system.

As a regular metro commuter, the existence of reserved coaches for ladies was one of the initial observations I happened to make. The provision of such reserved coaches stems from the dire urgency to provide women with the fundamental need for safe and reliable travel options. Owing to the presence of continuous surveillance, security checks, women-only coaches, and reserved seats for women in the general coaches, the consensus is that the metro commute is relatively much safer for women as opposed to buses. Moreover, a lot of women themselves agree that the metro’s transit environment is safer and more convenient for them [6].  However, these features of the Delhi metro are insufficient to completely eradicate the cases of harassment against women. From time to time, there have been recurrent incidents of women reporting instances of sexual harassment like molestation, groping, flashing, and assault on metro premises [7].

When travelling during the peak rush hours, we can observe women (and even men) standing at the station platform, letting the crowded trains pass by, and waiting for an uncongested train to arrive. This can be explained by emphasizing the social fact of women facing sexual harassment like eve-teasing and groping when boarding an immensely crowded train. The perpetrators of such crimes find it easier to avoid consequences when present in a congested coach. So, despite the high presence of women passengers and the high security of Delhi Metro, women still aren’t in a state of absolute safety. And we still come across recurring cases of sexual violence against women on DMRC’s premises.

Moving ahead from the women’s question, we find that Delhi Metro has reduced the concern of gender sensitivity and safety to the mere formulation of provisions for women’s reservations and has not displayed any consideration for transgenders and other queer identities. Despite the state of tragic marginalization of transgenders, they find themselves to be utterly invisible in the supposed “modernity” and world-class charm of the Delhi metro. As a result, transgenders, along with other queer identities, remain to be majorly absent from the metro’s transit system.

Middle-Class Paradise & Classist Segregation

The insides of a metro train and its station premises are characterized as clean, air-conditioned, and free of dirt, smell, and grease – something that distinguishes Delhi Metro from Delhi’s bus transit system. As discussed above, one of the noble goals proposed by the Delhi Metro was to provide the national capital with the privilege of affordable public transportation. A question should now arise – affordable for whom? Contrary to DMRC’s supposed affordability claims, a study carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) revealed that the Delhi metro is the second most unaffordable in the world [8].

When travelling by the Delhi metro, we might observe that a vast majority of the working-class and lower-middle-class population are absent from the convenience of this transit system. Likewise, the predominant presence of petty-bourgeois and upper-middle-class in the Delhi metro elucidates the affordability of DMRC’s transit system. The lack of affordability of the Delhi metro has worsened over the years as DMRC implemented frequent fare hikes. A significant fare hike in 2017, resulted in DMRC’s ridership declining by 3 lakhs [9]. In the same manner, the affordability and accessibility of the Delhi metro have tragically diminished for the working-class population. By alienating the working-class population from its system, the Delhi Metro has transformed itself into a paradise for the middle classes – as the absence of a poor population from the metro and urban spaces translates into an absence of poverty, dirt, smell, and grease for the upper/middle classes. This is certainly how DMRC attempts to acclaim Delhi’s identity as a world-class city in the global economy; by covering up the existence of poverty and poor masses in the city and pushing them away from certain spaces. It’s a manifestation of the upper class’s desire to keep away from the displays of poverty as their vehement disgust is less for the social issue of poverty and rather more for the apparent imagery of poverty – which is usually symbolized by slums –  in their world-class cities.

The classist segregation prevailing within the premises and system of DMRC has a wider historical context to it. As discussed earlier, the concept of the metro was born out of neoliberal ideals. The introduction of neoliberal policies by the early 1990s led to the displacement of the urban poor as the demolitions of city slums began to take place [10]. Alongside, under the slum clearance schemes, between 1990 and 2007, around 90,000 houses were demolished [11]. In the neoliberal pursuit of beautifying the city and cleaning it up, almost one million slum dwellers were displaced between 1998-2008 [12]. The attempts to make Delhi a slum-free city were essentially made to raise Delhi to the standards of the neoliberal world economy and make it attractive to international investors. The reason for the absence of the working-class population from the Delhi Metro is rooted in the neoliberal policies adopted by the Indian economy in the early 1990s. The absence of poor masses from the Delhi Metro is not merely a trend affected by personal choice. It has a history; the history of DMRC being built alongside the demolition of countless slums and displacements of more than a million slum dwellers. 

References:

1.) Planning Department. (2022). Economic Survey of Delhi 2022-23. Government of NCT of Delhi.

2.) Chandrorkar, A. (2021). A Comprehensive Report on Metro Rail Systems in India. India Infrahub.

3.) Randhawa, P., Ranganathan, M., Pike, D. L., Doshi, S., Lambat, N., Kapse, V., & Sabnani, C. (2012). Delhi Metro Rail: Beyond Mass Transit. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(16), 25-29.

4.) Sadana, R. (2010). On the Delhi Metro: An Ethnographic View. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(46), 77-83.

5.) Sengar, S. (2019, June 4). Delhi Govt Claims Free Public Transport for Women will Ensure Safety, Will it Really Help?. IndiaTimes. https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/delhi-govt-claims-free-public-transport-for-women-will-ensure-safety-will-it-really-help-368564.html

6.) Sadana, R. (2010). On the Delhi Metro: An Ethnographic View. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(46), 77–83.

7.) Sengar , M. (2023, April 15). 26-year-old Delhi man arrested for sexually harassing woman in Metro Lift. NDTV. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ndtv.com/india-news/26-year-old-delhi-man-arrested-for-sexually-harassing-woman-in-metro-lift-3950045/amp/1

8.) Roy  & Gandhiok. (2018). Delhi Metro is Second-most Unaffordable in World. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-metro-is-second-most-unaffordable-in-world-cse/articleshow/65678814.cms

9.) Bhatnagar, G. V. (2017). Delhi Metro Sees Sharp Fall In Ridership After Recent Fare Hike. The Wire. https://thewire.in/environment/delhi-metro-sees-sharp-fall-ridership-recent-fare-hike

10.) Randhawa, P. (2012). Delhi Metro Rail: Beyond Mass Transit. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(16), 25–29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23214589

11.) Bhan, G. (2009). “This is No Longer the City I Once Knew”. Evictions, the Urban Poor and the Right to the City in Millennial Delhi. Environment and Urbanization, 21(1), 127-142.

12.) Lowry, D. (2013, May 24). The Cost of Global Image: The Delhi Metro & Socio-Spatial Harm by Dylan Lowry. The Stoa Online. https://icstoa.wordpress.com/spring-2013-volume-ii/the-cost-of-global-image-the-delhi-metro-socio-spatial-harm-by-dylan-lowry/

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Vansh Yadav is an undergraduate Sociology student at B R Ambedkar University, Delhi. His areas of research interests include history, culture and political economy.