Optimal Route Planning in Delhi Metro Using Graph Algorithms

Anyone who has travelled in the Delhi Metro knows an interesting fact: The shortest route is not always the best route. A path with fewer stations can feel worse if it requires multiple interchanges. A slightly longer route can feel easier if you stay on the same line throughout. This reveals an important idea: “Optimal” in transportation networks is not just distance. It depends on multiple human-centric factors: Number of interchanges Total stations travelled Ease of navigation and reliability This project builds a Delhi Metro Route Finder using graph theory and classical shortest-path algorithms that automatically computes the most practical route using real metro data stored in JSON. The key challenge is not the algorithm — it is the correct modeling of the problem . Modeling the Metro as a Graph A metro network naturally maps to a graph: Vertices (nodes) → Stations Edges → Direct connections between stations This is the standard abstraction used in transportation networks. However