Over 76 million passengers traveled by Tashkent metro in first quarter of 2026

According to the National Statistics Committee, this ridership volume represents a 9.1% increase compared to the first three months of 2025.

This positive start to 2026 follows a record-breaking year in 2025, when the subway network transported an annual total of 286.8 million passengers. The 2025 figures highlight a massive long-term growth trend, with annual passenger volume increasing by 161.1 million, or nearly 2.3 times, compared to the 125.7 million passengers recorded at the turn of the century in 2000.

An analysis of the historical data shows that metro usage experienced a long period of decline before entering its current phase of rapid expansion. After an initial peak of 141.9 million passengers in 2001, ridership steadily fell over the next decade and a half, reaching its lowest historical point of 52.3 million in 2015.

A gradual recovery began in 2017 as the city started expanding the network with new stations and lines. Although the COVID–19 pandemic caused a sharp drop to just 38.8 million passengers in 2020 due to lockdowns and health restrictions, the post–pandemic recovery has been remarkably swift. Ridership bounded past pre-pandemic levels to reach 101.8 million in 2021, eventually surging to 172 million in 2023 and 270.3 million in 2024, before hitting the 2025 milestone.