The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday cleared two more Metro rail corridors indicating the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s intent to build sustainable public transport in Mumbai to take pressure off the city roads.
These include the Metro-2B corridor connecting DN Nagar to Mandale in Mankhurd via Bandra, and Metro-4 connecting Wadala to Kasarvadavli in Thane passing through Ghatkopar and Mulund.
While the 23.5 km-long 2B corridor will be built with an investment of Rs. 10,986 crore, the 32-km long Metro-4 corridor will cost Rs. 14,549 crore. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will be the implementing agency for both projects.
While work on the Metro-2A connecting Dahisar to DN Nagar, and Metro-7 connecting Dahisar East to Andheri East have commenced, construction work of the underground Metro-3 connecting Colaba to SEEPZ via Bandra will start in a month or two. With Tuesday’s announcement, the government has commissioned or approved 124 km of the targeted 172 km of Metro rail connectivity across five corridors. Mumbai’s first Metro rail link connecting Versova to Ghatkopar constructed in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode was commissioned in 2014.
The Cabinet also approved the fare structure for the two Metro routes. A single ticket will cost Rs. 10 for the first three km up to Rs. 80 for a distance of more than 42 km. Officials said MMRDA will have the authority to decide the final fare before services commence on both the Metro routes.
