Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray is all set to inaugurate sections of Mumbai Metro’s two new lines on the occasion of Gudi Padwa (Marathi New Year) on 02 April 2022, almost eight years after the mass rapid transit system first made its entry into the financial capital. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner SVR Srinivas was quoted in a PTI report saying that metro train services on the first phase of Line 2A as well as Line 7, both in western suburbs, will be thrown open to the public. Mumbai Metro Line 2A is between Dahanukarwadi-Dahisar and Line 7 is between Aarey Colony-Dahisar.
According to Srinivas, phase one of the two Mumbai Metro lines will be opened for commuters on the same day or the next morning following the inauguration of the 20.17 kilometres long corridors, which have 18 metro stations. The Mumbai Metro services will be operated between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM. The MMRDA commissioner further said the trains which will be deployed on the elevated corridors have been designed for driverless operations along with CBTC signalling systems. However, during the initial phases, the metro trains will be manned by operators or attendants, including a few female pilots. In the future, the system will be upgraded to unmanned train operation, he said, further adding though the corridors’ sanctioned speed is 80 km per hour, initially the metro trains will be operated at 70 km per hour.
According to him, 150 services will be operated daily on these two lines with 11 rakes, each of six coaches. Over 2,250 commuters can travel on a metro train at a time. For the metro ride, the minimum ticket price is Rs 10, while the maximum ticket price is Rs 50 (prices will change every 3 kilometres). However, the monthly pass facility won’t be available on the new lines initially. He also said that cycles can be carried on the Metro trains, but charges have not been decided yet for them. The MMRDA has done multi-modal integration at the stations and the BEST undertaking buses will be operated as feeder services, Srinivas said. The MMRDA has targeted to finish phase two of the corridors by August 15, he added.
