Navi Mumbai to soon get its first Metro line after a 12-year wait

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Navi Mumbai to soon get its first Metro line after a 12-year wait

Shawdesh Desk:

Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 spanning approximately 11.1 km, connecting Belapur to Pendhar will be commissioned for public use soon. As per the City and Industrial Development Corporation CIDCO, the inauguration of the Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 is expected to be conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 15. However, the exact date of the inauguration is yet to be confirmed from the PM’s office.

12 years into making

The impending commissioning of the Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 will likely provide a significant boost to public transportation and connectivity in the region.

The 11.1-kilometer of complete Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 enroute from Belapur to Pendhar has obtained the clearance certificate from the Commission of Railway Safety (CMRS), making it ready for operations.
This metro line comprises 11 stations: Belapur, Sector-7 Bela-pur, Science Park, Utsav Chowk, Sector 11 Kharghar, Sector 14 Kharghar, Central Park, Petha-pada, Sector 34 Kharghar, Panch-nand, and Pendhar Terminal. It has a maintenance depot at Taloja and two traction substations at Panchanand and Kharghar.
This project faced several hurdles including issues related to contractors, lack of experts, legal and technical obstacles including funding challenges leading to its delay.

CIDCO also secured a financial line of credit from ICICI Bank to fund the project of Rs 500 crore. To address financial constraints, CIDCO has allocated dedicated land for the Navi Mumbai Metro project in the 2022-23 budget. The elevated Navi Mumbai metro has been in the works for 12 years.

In fact, this was the first Metro line planned in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metro Line One led by Reliance Infra by MMRDA under Public Private Partnership managed to take off in June 2014 and opened to the public.

Similarly, the other 35 km long Metro Lines 2A and 7 between Dahisar and Andheri on the Western Express Highway and Link Road also opened to the public in 2023. Other metro lines such as Line 6, 4 and underground Metro Line 3 are likely to be commissioned by this year’s end partially and fully by next year.

Metro fare, route and operator CIDCO, the agency in-charge of Navi Mumbai Metro project, has appointed Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MahaMetro) to run services on Line 1 of the project, for a period of 10 years costing them Rs 500 crore. The fares for the Navi Mumbai Metro will be between Rs 10 and 40.

While journey up to two km will cost Rs 10, for above 10 km, the fare will be Rs 40 for one side journey. The metro fare is fixed in 2021 by CIDCO and will be operated by MahaMetro.

Along with inauguration of Navi Mumbai Metro Prime Minister Modi is also expected to lay the foundation stone for the Orange Gate tunnel project of MMRDA, which has received approval from the state government for appointment of contractor. Additionally, the Central Railway Mumbai division Digha station is ready to be opened to the public and inaugurated by PM Modi.