Making way for the Mumbai Metro, the Railway Ministry on Thursday gave its final security clearance for the first phase. The permission to run the coaches was the last one required to start the functioning of the Metro.
"The required permissions for Mumbai metro from railway ministry have been received," said UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority.
The final safety inspection by Commisioner of Metro Railway Safety was completed on April 28. But the file had been pending with the railway ministry since then. On Thursday, railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda informed BJP MPs Kirit Somaiya and Gopal Sgetty that the Metro could now be started officially.
The Metro project has been in the making for seven years. The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor is the first one which will start functioning following Thursday's clearances for the rolling stocks, rakes and electrification.
The contract for constructing the first Metro Corridor connecting Versova–Andheri–Ghatkopar (VAG) was awarded to the consortium of Reliance Energy Limited, a Reliance ADA Group Company, Veolia Transport, France and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
Travel time on the 11.4 km stretch between Versova and Ghatkopar is likely to come down by more than an hour.