Mumbai, April 6 The Mumbai metro network will further expand starting Tuesday with the launch of two new corridors – Metro Lines 2B and 9, boosting suburban connectivity and moving towards the vision of a fully integrated metro network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Metro Line 9 marks the first metro corridor in the Thane district, while Line 2B extends metro connectivity to key Harbour Line areas, including Chembur and adjoining localities.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Monday said Metro Line 9 (Dahisar East to Kashigaon in Mira-Bhayandar) and Metro Line 2B (Mandale to Diamond Garden, Phase 1) will commence commercial operations on April 8.
Both metro corridors will be inaugurated in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies, Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, at separate functions at the Dahisar metro station and Diamond Garden metro station in Chembur in the western and eastern suburbs, respectively.
The two new metro corridors are being opened in phases, and the full routes will become operational at a later stage.
With the expansion, Metro Line 2A (Dahisar East to Andheri West) and Metro Line 7 (Andheri East to Dahisar East) will operate as independent corridors. However, Line 7 will run in conjunction with Line 9, enabling direct connectivity from Andheri East to Mira-Bhayandar via Kashigaon, the release said.
MMRDA also stated that the revised timetable for metro services on Lines 2A and 7, aimed at making travel simpler and more predictable with improved frequency, streamlined operations and better network integration, will come into effect from April 8.
Metro Line 2A (Andheri West-Dahisar East) will function as a standalone corridor with services starting at 5:50 AM and running till around 11 PM, with a peak-hour frequency of about six minutes. A total of 289 services will be operated on weekdays, 231 on Saturdays and 213 on Sundays.
The integrated Metro Line 7 and Line 9 corridor (Gundavali-Kashigaon), spanning 19.79 km, will also operate from 5:50 AM to 11 pm, with a peak frequency of under six minutes, offering direct connectivity across key suburban stretches.
A total of 276 services will run on weekdays, 223 on Saturdays and 205 on Sundays, the release said.
An interchange facility at Dahisar station between Lines 2A and 7 will continue to allow seamless transfers without exiting the paid area, MMRDA said.
Since the launch of Lines 7 and 2A, metro trains on both corridors were operated end-to-end from Andheri East to Andheri West via Dahisar East.
Metro Line 2B (Phase 1), covering 5.38 km between Mandale and Diamond Garden, will run from 6 am to around 10:30 pm with a frequency of about nine-and-a-half minutes, operating a total of 209 services daily. The entire Metro Line 2B will run between Andheri West and Mandale in the eastern suburbs.
MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said the phased opening of the new lines marks a significant milestone in the city's metro expansion, with full commissioning to follow in stages.
He said the integration of Line 7 with Line 9 and the launch of Line 2B will help distribute passenger load more efficiently while moving towards the vision of a fully integrated metro network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Currently, four metro corridors – Line 1 (Ghatkopar -Andheri-Varsova), Line 2A (Andheri West to Dahisar East), Line 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East) and Line 3 (Colaba-BKC-SEEPZE) are operational in the metropolis. Line 3, which is also called the Aqua Line, was the latest addition to Mumbai's metro network.
A groundbreaking ceremony for a pod taxi project will also take place in a function at Chembur on Tuesday, while the Borivali to Thane twin tunnel project will be launched at Manpada.