‘Mumbai’s Official Public Transport app Yatri Aims to Become a One-Stop App for Urban Mobility in India’: Reeva Sakaria, Co-founder, Yatri

Yatri plans to become a true one-stop platform for in-city travel, where commuters can plan, track and complete their journeys across public transport modes without switching apps. Reeva Sakaria, Co-founder, Yatri, informs exclusively to Rajneesh De, Group Editor, CXO Media & APAC Media, that Yatri’s focus is not just access to information, but making public transport predictable and trustworthy. 

What was the story behind the genesis of Yatri to it becoming Mumbai’s official transport app?

Yatri started with a simple question, why is everyday commuting still so stressful when millions of people depend on public transport every day? As daily commuters ourselves, we saw people standing on platforms with constant uncertainty, when the train would arrive, whether it was delayed, or if the platform would change at the last moment. That uncertainty is what we wanted to solve.

Today, Yatri is Mumbai’s official public transport app, partnered with Indian Railways and officially recognised by Central and Western Railways. Our focus has always been on simplifying everyday commuting. We provide live train locations using GPS devices installed on local trains, along with real-time delay alerts, platform details, and official announcements. On top of that, commuters also help each other through Yatri Chat, where on-ground updates add an extra layer of reliability that goes beyond static information.

Over time, we realized that commuters need information beyond just one mode of transport to plan and complete their journeys. So, Yatri expanded beyond local trains. We now offer metro ticket booking in multiple Indian cities, and journey planning across buses, local trains, metro, and monorail. You simply enter your source and destination, and Yatri helps you plan the most efficient route across different modes of transport.

Yatri is expanding to multiple Indian cities and steadily moving toward becoming a one-stop app for urban mobility in India. Everything we build follows a user-first approach. Our decisions are driven by how people actually commute and by constant feedback from our users, helping them plan better, wait less, and travel with confidence every day.

How does Yatri work end-to-end for a customer? What are the facets of its operational model?

Yatri works as a real-time guide for commuters, from the moment they start planning their trip to the time they reach their destination. The app is designed with simple onboarding and an intuitive interface built specifically for daily commuters, so users can get started quickly without any learning curve.

With just 3–4 taps, users can check live train locations, plan their journey, or book metro tickets. Inside the app, commuters can view up-to-date schedules across local trains, metros, buses, monorails, and ferries, all in one place. Yatri’s direct connectivity with railway control rooms ensures that updates around delays, platform changes, and service disruptions are timely and reliable.

Yatri’s journey planner lets users enter their source and destination and helps them choose the best route and combination of public transport modes. As the journey progresses, location-specific alerts adapt to changing conditions in real time, allowing users to make informed decisions on the go and stay in control of their commute.

What are the key problems in ground transportation that Yatri is solving today?

The biggest problem we are solving is uncertainty. For most commuters, the issue is not the commute itself; it is not knowing what is actually happening until it is too late. Information is often scattered, delayed, or unclear, which leads to frustration and inefficient decisions.

Yatri brings clarity by combining verified transit updates, live tracking, and timely alerts with on-ground inputs from commuters through Yatri Chat. This creates a shared, real-time understanding of the network, not just what is planned but what is actually unfolding.

We also address fragmentation. Instead of switching between multiple apps to plan a single commute, users can rely on Yatri for metro ticketing along with information and planning across public transport modes. Our focus is not just access to information; it is making public transport predictable and trustworthy.

Who are your core customer segments — enterprise, travel agents, or direct consumers?

Yatri is built primarily for direct public transport commuters. These include students, working professionals, senior citizens, daily wage workers, and long-distance commuters across income levels. What connects them is a shared need for certainty, safety, reliable information, and the ability to make quick decisions. These aren’t occasional travellers; public transport is essential to their daily lives. Every product decision we make starts with this everyday commuter at the centre.

What kind of revenue growth has Yatri seen over the last 12–18 months?

Yatri has seen steady and healthy revenue growth over the last 12–18 months, driven by deeper commuter adoption, expansion into new cities, and increased usage of in-app metro ticketing. Alongside consumer-led monetisation, Yatri has also begun generating revenue through private partnerships and data-led integrations, where structured, reliable mobility information is shared across multiple platforms. Rather than pushing short-term monetisation, the focus has been on building durable revenue streams that scale responsibly with trust, usage, and institutional partnerships.

What does your growth roadmap look like for the next year?

Over the next year, Yatri’s growth roadmap focuses on three priorities: expanding to more Indian cities, onboarding over 50 public transport operators, and strengthening journey completion through ticketing and payments. The goal is to become a true one-stop platform for in-city travel, where commuters can plan, track, and complete their journeys across public transport modes without switching apps.

In parallel, Yatri will continue building sustainable private partnerships that support long-term scale and platform stability, while remaining deeply aligned with public transport systems. At the same time, we will keep investing in reliability, operational depth, and close coordination with transport authorities to ensure growth never comes at the cost of accuracy, trust, or commuter experience.

How does Yatri differentiate itself from large ride-hailing platforms?

Yatri is fundamentally different from large ride-hailing platforms because we are built exclusively for public transport, not private rides. While ride-hailing apps are optimised around individual convenience, Yatri is designed around mass mobility, helping cities move more efficiently and affordably.

Our focus is entirely on everyday public transport users. We work closely with city transit systems and use live, on-ground data to provide real-time visibility into trains, metros, buses, and other modes. This helps commuters reduce uncertainty, make better decisions, and avoid unnecessary waiting.

By enabling seamless journey planning across multiple modes and in-app metro ticket booking, we reduce the friction that often pushes people toward private vehicles. When public transport becomes simpler and more reliable, more people choose it, and that has a direct impact on reducing congestion, lowering emissions, and protecting the environment. In that sense, sustainability is not a separate goal for us; it is built into how Yatri works.

What are your competitive differentiators over other established travel sites that also have ride-hailing features?

Yatri is built for public transport at the core, not as an add-on to ride-hailing. Most travel platforms start with private rides and layer public transit on top. Yatri starts with the realities of daily train, metro, and bus commuters, uncertainty, delays, platform changes, and fragmented information.

We focus on giving commuters real-time visibility, clear alerts, and end-to-end journey planning across public transport modes. Yatri Chat adds on-ground, commuter-led updates, which is something ride-hailing–led platforms don’t prioritise. As a result, Yatri is not just a booking or discovery tool; it is an everyday guide that helps people make faster, more confident decisions while using public transport.

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