Metro Rail News covers a sector where large sums of public money are committed through procurement, and where our readers and our advertisers are frequently the same organisations. That overlap is normal for a trade publication, and it is exactly why we set out our standards openly.
Published by Symbroj Media Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Editorial responsibility rests with the Managing Editor, Narendra Shah.
Separation of commercial and editorial
Advertising, sponsorship, event partnership and subscription revenue have no bearing on editorial judgement. Our commercial team does not approve, review or preview editorial content, and editorial staff do not sell advertising.
An organisation that advertises with us receives no coverage advantage, and no protection from critical reporting.
Disclosure of commercial relationships
Where we report on an organisation that has a material commercial relationship with Metro Rail News or Symbroj Media — an advertiser, event sponsor or partner — and that relationship is relevant to the story, we disclose it in the article.
Sponsored content is labelled with a visible disclosure banner and a “Sponsored” byline marker, and its outbound links carry rel="sponsored nofollow".
We also publish and promote our own industry events, including InnoMetro and InnoBus Expo, and those of the Symbroj group. Where we report on our own events, we identify them as ours.
Gifts, hospitality and travel
Editorial staff do not accept gifts of material value from organisations we cover.
We do accept travel or accommodation to attend site visits, plant tours and industry events — common and often necessary in infrastructure journalism, where sites are remote and access is controlled. Where we do, we disclose it in the resulting article. Accepting travel never comes with any commitment about coverage, and never restricts what we report.
Conflicts of interest
Editorial staff disclose to the Managing Editor any financial interest, family relationship or prior employment involving an organisation they are asked to cover, and are reassigned where the conflict is material.
Contributed and guest content
Opinion pieces and technical articles by industry figures are published under the author’s own name and identify their organisation and role. A contributed article represents its author’s views, not those of Metro Rail News.
We do not publish contributed content in exchange for payment without labelling it as sponsored, and we do not publish guest articles whose purpose is to place links.
Interviews
Interviews are published as edited excerpts, and we say so. Editing is for length and clarity; we do not change the substance of what an interviewee said.
Accuracy, fairness and right of reply
Where our reporting is critical of an organisation, we seek their comment before publication and include their response, or note that they declined or did not respond by our deadline. Our full commitments on corrections and right of reply are set out in our Corrections Policy.
Plagiarism and attribution
We do not publish others’ work as our own. Where we report information first published elsewhere, we credit and link to the original.
Artificial intelligence
We do not use AI to produce editorial content. Our journalism is researched, written and edited by people.
Privacy
We report on organisations, projects and public officials acting in their professional capacity. We do not publish private information about individuals without a clear public interest. Our handling of reader data is set out in our Privacy Policy.
Raising a concern
To raise an ethical concern about our reporting, contact the Managing Editor, Narendra Shah — editor@metrorailnews.in.
Factual errors are handled under our Corrections Policy.
See also: Editorial Policy · Terms of Use