The new Metro lines – Metro 7 Dahisar (E)-Andheri (E) and Metro 2A Dahisar (W)-DN Nagar – will bring a breather to public transportation at large. According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), when the two metro lines become fully operational, it is expected to reduce rush in the local trains of Western Railway (WR) and traffic on the Western Express Highway (WEH).
This is expected whenever things go back to normalcy. “We expect at least 12 percent of those travelling in local trains on Western Railway and 25 percent of motorists travelling on WEH to shift onto Metro 7 and 2A,” said RA Rajeev, MMRDA Commissioner, who added that this is his last day on May 31.
This would mean that out of the total 37 lakh-odd commuters using the WR, at least 4.40 lakh commuters will shift to the Metro-7 Red line. At present there are around 5-7 lakh daily passengers travelling on essential duties on the WR suburban trains. On May 31, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the trial run on the 20 km route of Dhanukarwadi (Charkop) - Dahisar - Aarey that are part of Metro 2A & 7.
The inauguration took place at Akurli Metro station – formerly called Bandongri Metro station that was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in September 2019 that is part of Metro 7. The station premises, escalators, lifts, staircases, ticket counters, platforms and the rake were well decorated with flowers and frills. At around noon, there was a protest by BJP against delay in Metro projects in Mumbai.
The concourse area has a huge ticketing office, customer care center, Red line station indicators, route map, directions and landmarks on either side of the station premises. This will also be the first time that an automatic door closing mechanism has been installed on the platforms. On the outside, there was neat roof lighting falling on the road. The grey and red colour combination on the exterior also stood out.
The MMRDA will begin testing on the Yellow line 2A and Red line 7 wherein oscillation trials of a prototype 6-car train will be run at various speeds. The commissioning of both the lines is planned in 2 phases, the first phase of 20 km from Charkop depot-Dahanukarwadi to Aarey by September 2021 and remaining stretch by January 2022.
This will cover 18 stations (9 stations of Line 2A and 9 stations of Line 7). The trial run will start from Aarey Station of Line 7 and end at Charkop Depot via Dahisar (E) station. The Yellow Metro line will have stations of Dahisar (E), Upper Dahisar, Kandarpada, Mandapeshwar, Eksar, Borivali (W), PahadiEksar and Kandivali (W). The stations falling on the Red Metro line are Ovaripada, Rashtriya Udyan, Devipada, Magathane, Poisar, Akurli, Kurar, Dindoshi & Aarey.
“We will open this 20 km stretch after completing the trial runs, by October. Mumbai is getting two new Metro rail lines since the first Metro line started in 2014. We expect the two Metro lines to ferry more than 12 lakh passengers by 2031,” added Rajeev.
A total of 10 train-sets will be available by October, 2021 when it will be commissioned for public use. The complete commissioning of 35kms of line 2A and line 7 shall happen by early next year. Over 93 per cent of Civil works for both these lines have been completed and system works are on-going in full swing. As on April 30, the MMRDA has spent project cost for Metro 2A of Rs 3525 crore and Rs 2410 crore for Metro 7.
