MMRDA, MMRC mull merging Metro corridors

Forget local trains, in the future you may be able to travel from Dahisar to Churchgate directly via Metro. The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) are considering integrating (merging) the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor and the Dahisar (East) to Andheri (East) Metro-7 corridor by constructing a common passageway for both the lines at the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) Metro station.

“This means now if any given commuter is travelling from Dahisar and wants to travel up to Churchgate or Colaba, he or she may be able to take Metro-7 from Dahisar and get down at airport Metro station. The commuter can, after that, using the interchange passageway get into Metro-3 underground corridor between the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ, which is being implemented by the MMRC,” said an MMRDA official.

“The initial plan for Metro-7 was up to Andheri (East) a Metro station for Andheri (East) near the Andheri railway station and the Metro-3 was to end at Seepz, but now we are considering to construct a common integrated platform at airport Metro station which means extending the Metro-7 up to Mumbai airport,” added MMRDA official.

This comes after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), had earlier recommended to MMRDA in a detailed project report that Mumbai is the commercial capital of India with fast growth, especially in the suburbs. It therefore proposed to extend Metro-7 from Andheri (East) up to the Mumbai airport complex which will increase connectivity for commuters travelling from Dahisar to Colaba as the Metro-3 underground corridor constructed by MMRC will pass by the airport. DMRC is the interim consultant for the construction of Metro-7 corridor and the work will be executed by the MMRDA.

Meanwhile, Dilip Kawathkar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, “We are considering the plan of integrating the Metro-7 and Metro-3 corridors by making the airport Metro station the interchange station. It will help to decrease the traffic on roads in the city and also help the people who are currently travelling via local trains on from the western suburbs and travelling to South Mumbai.”

It is interesting to note that the airport Metro station is not the only planned interchange Metro station in the city. The DN Nagar Metro station of the Metro-1 corridor between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) will act as an interchange Metro station after Metro-2 corridor between Dahisar and DN Nagar and the Metro-2B corridor between DN Nagar-Mankhurd are constructed. The DN Nagar-Mankhurd Metro corridor is a part of the Metro-2 (Dahisar-Charkop—Bandra-Mankhurd), which was earlier planned underground, but was later turned into an elevated corridor. The line was also divided into three parts namely Dahisar-DN Nagar, DN Nagar-BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) and BKC-Mankhurd.