New Delhi,The SUBWAY® restaurant chain, the largest submarine chain in the world just got larger.

The leading Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain opened its 40,000th restaurant at an AppleGreen petrol station in Ipswich, England.

The opening of the milestone 40,000th restaurant puts the SUBWAY® brand far ahead of its competitors in the QSR industry, making it more convenient for customers to eat a delicious SUBWAY® submarine sandwich or chopped salad. Of the top restaurant chains, the next closest is more than 5,500 locations behind the SUBWAY® brand.

Beyond that, the next three are between 21,000 and 33,000 locations behind.

“This is certainly a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire Subway team, who I often refer to as The Greatest Team in Franchising History,” said President and Co-Founder Fred DeLuca, who opened the brand’s first sandwich shop on August 28, 1965. The chain will soon celebrate its 48th year of operations.

“I am proud to be part of a team that provides thousands of jobs for people at our restaurants, field offices, headquarters, and partner offices around the world,” Fred continued. “Our franchisees are the best in the business. They are a diverse group of small business owners who take a great deal of pride in serving their customers.”

SUBWAY®‘s latest milestone achievement illustrates the strength and consistent growth of the SUBWAY® brand, which has opened 1,761 new locations around the world since the start of the year. In India, SUBWAY® presently operates 376 restaurants. It has grown at a rate of 35 per cent in terms of restaurant count over the last one year.

According to Mr Robby Gulri, Country-Head, SUBWAY® India,”The chain’s success is in large part due to its franchise-based business model. All Subway restaurants are completely owned by local franchisees who are entrepreneurs that appreciate the opportunity to work hands-on. The low start-up cost, simple operation and flexible floor plans make the chain appealing to potential franchisees.

The worldwide brand recognition of Subway restaurants acts as a pull for the prospective franchisees.” A steady growth in India has prompted SUBWAY® to set a target of 650 restaurants by the end of 2015 and 1000 restaurants by the end of 2017, across the country.

The milestone restaurant location highlights the flexibility of the SUBWAY® brand. There are more than 9,000 non-traditional locations worldwide and about 4,500 of them are in gas/petrol stations. The SUBWAY® chain can open in spaces where other brands may believe to be too small or impractical, such as hospitals, health clubs, movie theaters and train stations. In fact, customers enjoy SUBWAY® sandwiches and salads at restaurants on a German riverboat, in a car dealership in California and even in a church in Buffalo, New York. India, too, has SUBWAY® restaurants in diverse locations like hospitals, malls, airports, highways etc. The brand has also opened fully-vegetarian restaurants at specific locations in the country.

The UK is the brand’s third largest market, behind the U.S. and Canada, with more than 1,500 locations. In all, there are 14,000 International locations in 102 countries outside the U.S. In addition to celebrating this recent milestone, the European team just opened their 4,000 location. Other milestones include Brazil with 1,200, Mexico with 700 and Argentina and Columbia each with 100 restaurants; and the Eastern European nation of Estonia recently witnessed the opening its first SUBWAY® franchise.

“There is still a lot of opportunity in our International markets,” said Chief Development Officer Don Fertman. “The brand has regional and country offices that provide education and support to the franchisees in the field; all working to ensure we are the best brand out there for both our customers as well as entrepreneurs looking to get into the restaurant business.”