In a precursor to the introduction of two more north-south metros in Mumbai’s north-western suburbs, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday, kicked off the trial runs for the city’s 2A Yellow Line and 7 Red Line, both-elevated metro lines.
While the Line 2A -- built at a cost of around Rs. 6,400 crore -- runs from Dahisar to DN Nagar, fully elevated for 18.60 kms with 17 stations, the Line 7 -- constructed at a cost of around Rs.6,200 crore runs from Dahisar East to Andheri, fully elevated for 16.50 kms with 13 stations.
Over the next few days, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will test the two lines with 6-car rakes at various speeds. Both these lines are expected to be commissioned in two phases – the first in September 2021 and the second in January 2022.
When trains begin to operate on these two metro corridors, it will mark completion of a crucial phase of the metro system in the city, currently served by a single east-west 11.40 kms Mumbai Metro One line from Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar which was inaugurated in June 2014.
The first phase would cover nine stations each for both the lines covering a distance of 10.50 kms (Line 2A) and 9.20 kms (Line 7), while the remaining sections will become operational in the second phase.
The two lines, when they become operational, will not only cut down the travel time from the current 75 to 90 minutes to barely 25 minutes, but they will also cater to 6 l;akh commuters daily over a period of decade, thus helping decongest the city road traffic.
More than 93 percent of all the civil works on both the Metro lines have been completed and now other system and station works are currently in full swing to make them ready for the first commuters by September 2021.
At the inaugural function, chief minister Udhhav Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Mayor Kishori Pednekar, other ministers of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance flagged off a train that was operated on a trial run.
Heaping praise on the state-run MMRDA for its achievements, the chief minister said that despite the two Covid-19 waves and the strict pandemic restrictions, the pace of the city and its development work has not halted.
Uddhav also performed the foundation laying ceremony of Controlled Access Subway-Elevated Road Project on Western Express Highway to give a direct access to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport terminals 1 and 2, flyovers and bridges,
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was working at a fast pace and cited how a 30-km long asphalt road in Khatau in Satara was built in just 24 hours, a feat taken note by Limca Book of Records, and an entire cement road in Mumbai finished in just 12 hours during the night.
Prominent among those present at the function were Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, state ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Eknath Shinde, Nawab Malik, Aditya Thackeray, Aslam Sheikh, Subhash Desai, Prajakt Tanpure MMRDA Commissioner R. A. Rajeev, several MPS and MLAs and other top officials.