Mumbai, April 7 – The inauguration of the opening phase of Metro Line 9 connecting Dahisar East to Kashigaon on Tuesday marked the first direct connectivity between a suburb in Mumbai and a part of Thane city in the metropolitan region.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also inaugurated the first phase of Metro Line 2B from Mandale to Chembur, which provides the first metro connectivity on the Harbour Line in Mumbai.
This will improve connectivity in the eastern suburbs.
With regular services on both lines set to start from Wednesday, the financial capital of the country will have six operational metro lines.
Fadnavis first inaugurated the first phase of Metro Line 9, flagging off a train from Dahisar East, and traveled to Kashigaon along with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, and Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde. The line connects the northern suburb of Dahisar with neighbouring Mira Bhayandar in Thane district.
Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said that an easy and accessible transportation system is being developed in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), integrating metro, e-buses and water transport to make the city the most accessible in the country.
Mumbai now ranks second in the country after Delhi in terms of metro network with more than 100 km of operational metro lines, he said, adding that most of the remaining projects will be completed in the next two years.
Mumbai now has six operational metro corridors, including Metro Line 1 (Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova), Line 2A (Andheri West-Dahisar East), Line 7 (Dahisar East and Andheri East) and Line 3, known as Aqua Line (Colaba-Bandra Kurla Complex-SEEPZ).
The first phase of Metro Line 9 comprises a 5.6-km elevated stretch with four stations – Dahisar East, Pandurangwadi, Miragaon and Kashigaon.
The chief minister stated that nearly 96 per cent of the work on the second phase, between Sai Baba Nagar and Subhash Chandra Bose Maidan in Mira-Bhayandar, has been completed, and the 4.3-km stretch with four additional stations will be inaugurated later this year.
"This metro line will allow us to complete a journey which currently takes one to two hours in about 30 minutes," he said, adding that the project has been built at a cost of Rs 6,607 crore.
Line 9 will provide seamless connectivity from Mira-Bhayandar to Colaba in south Mumbai through interlinking with Metro Line 7, and with Lines 7A and 3 in the future, the CM said.
Features such as rainwater harvesting, LED lighting, regenerative braking and solar panels make the metro line environmentally friendly, he said.
According to the MMRDA, the newly opened stretch of Line 9 will provide seamless connectivity with the existing metro network, linking commuters to Line 7 and further to Line 7A, offering access to Andheri (East) and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Later in the afternoon, the chief minister inaugurated the 5.53-km first phase of Mumbai Metro Line 2B from Mandale to Chembur in the eastern suburbs.
Deputy Chief Ministers Shinde and Sunetra Pawar were also present at the function held at Diamond Garden Metro Station.
The stretch between Diamond Garden and Mandale comprises five elevated stations.
Phase I will connect with the Harbour Line of the Central Railway at Mankhurd.
Metro Line 2B (Phase I) will operate from 6 AM to 10:30 PM, with a frequency of about nine-and-a-half minutes and a total of 209 services daily. The full corridor will run between DN Nagar (Andheri) and Mandale in the eastern suburbs.
All Phase I stations have received IGBC Green Platinum ratings and are equipped with modern amenities, Divyang-friendly access and energy-efficient systems, officials said.
The Mandale depot will be India's largest elevated metro depot with a capacity to house 72 metro trains.
Fadnavis added that the southward expansion of Metro Line 2B will improve connectivity to Central Mumbai, besides the east-west connectivity.
"A new beginning is taking place with this metro, as the Harbour Line is getting its first metro connectivity," he said .
The double-decker metro depot at Mandale near Mankhurd in eastern Mumbai is also an engineering marvel, with 36 lines on the ground level and 36 on the upper deck. A training centre will be set up there in the future.
"In 2016-17, our government had announced plans to bring 'sugamta' (accessibility) by developing the required infrastructure and public transport so that one could travel from one area to another within 59 minutes across MMR. Phases of this plan are now being inaugurated," the chief minister said.
He said once 337 km of metro lines are laid, almost the entire MMR will get connected, ensuring faster travel for people.
Fadnavis claimed the load on the existing suburban railway network will be greatly reduced, noting that around 90 lakh passengers travel on Mumbai's suburban network currently. "Additionally, 70 lakh people will be able to travel on the metro network," he added.
Deputy CM Shinde said that it was a historic day for Mumbai in efforts to eradicate traffic congestion.
He expressed hope that once the entire 337-km metro network is completed, traffic congestion in the city will ease.
According to an official release, the integrated Metro Lines 7-9 corridor (Gundavali-Kashigaon), spanning 19.79 km, will operate between 5:50 am and 11 pm, with a peak frequency of under six minutes.
A total of 276 services will operate on weekdays, 223 on Saturdays and 205 on Sundays, its stated.
With the launch of Metro Line 9, Lines 2A and 7 will operate as independent corridors. Earlier, services on these lines were run as a single stretch from Andheri East to Andheri West via Dahisar East.
Line 7 will be integrated with Line 9, enabling direct connectivity from Andheri East to Mira-Bhayandar via Kashigaon. An interchange facility at Dahisar station will allow seamless transfers without exiting the paid area.