New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS): Laying to rest criticism that the elevated Metro had blemished the capital's landscape, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief E. Sreedharan said Sunday that the underground section was five times more prone to terror attacks.

"An underground metro rail will have five times more security risks when compared to an elevated metro," Sreedharan said at the Urban Mobility India (UMI) conference-cum-exhibition here.

"Delhi today is facing lot of terror threats and having a large underground system will be a big mistake, I personally feel," he added.

The UMI is an annual event of the urban development ministry and is a platform for exchanging information and ideas on sustainable mobility.

Sreedharan said that it would be his dream to give Delhi an all underground metro but it would not be financially viable.

"As an engineer and a planner, it would be my dream to give Delhi a metro which is all underground... it is just not affordable for a developing country like India. We have been able to leverage limited resources making the metro financially viable," he said.

He further said that Delhi was in an urgent need of common ticketing system for all modes of transport to provide a hassle free journey to commuters.

"The solution is easy but it all remains embroiled in bureaucracy of governance and different organs of state governments moving in different directions," he said.

Terming it a financial success and lauding its progress, Sreedharan said that about 1.8 million passengers use the metro daily and the passengers were growing at a hefty rate every month.

"The metro was constructed mostly with loans taken from Japan, to the extent of 55 percent of the total cost. Though it has one of the lowest fares in the world it is a financial success and has been able to pay back the loan without any government subsidy," Sreedharan said.

The Delhi Metro with 160 metro trains makes about 2,400 trips per day, traverses about 69,000 km and carries about 18 lakh passengers on working days.