Mumbai Metro to be ‘fully operational by 2012’

The much awaited Mumbai Metro Line 1 will be fully operational by 2012.

The Metro will ease the burden on the suburban rail networks ‘drastically’ and act as the East/West connectivity between the two existing suburban rail services.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the agency looking after the development of the Metro, has said more than 80% of the civil work has been completed.

Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd has received approval from the Western Railway for a rail bridge over Andheri and major equipment and machinery has been delivered.

The 11.7 km Versova – Andheri – Ghatkopar corridor has been built at the cost of $525.39 million and developed by a consortium of Reliance Infrastructure, MMRDA and Veolia Transport on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis for the period of 35 years.

Covering a vast area between Versova and Ghatkopar, the various project phases are in progress simultaneously.

These include construction of stations, depot, track work, overhead electrification and signalling.

Most of the station buildings and the depot are at an ‘advanced stage of completion’.

Some of the stations like Jagruti Nagar and Airport Road are almost 95% completed while other stations are 70-75% completed, MMRDA said.

Rahul Asthana, Metropolitan Commissioner said:

“Over 80% of the Metro 1 corridor has been completed and we expect the Metro will be fully functional by next year.”

The work of the most critical Metro bridge over Western Railway Tracks at Andheri is in full swing under active supervision by the railways authorities, who ‘have been cooperative’.