Coming up in Mandale, largest Metro car depot

Currently being constructed by the contractors, a consortium of RCC Infra Ventures Ltd.-MBZ, it is set to have 76 stabling lines on 28 hectares of land. (File) 

With Mumbai set to have around 300 kilometres of Metro corridor in the coming years, the city is also likely to have one of the country’s largest metro car depot in Mandale. Being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) it will cater to three upcoming Metro corridors.

“We are constructing the country’s largest Metro car depot at Mandale and it will cater to the upcoming corridors of Metro 2A, 2B and 7,” said Pravin Darade, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Currently being constructed by the contractors, a consortium of RCC Infra Ventures Ltd.-MBZ, it is set to have 76 stabling lines on 28 hectares of land. It will have the capacity to stable and maintain around 608 coaches.
“We are constructing it with a scope for future expansion. 60 per cent of the depot will be constructed with double decks so that coaches can be stabled on both levels. No other car depot in the country has so many stabling lines in one facility,” said a senior MMRDA official.

Delhi Metro currently has two of the largest depots in the country. The Najafgarh Metro depot is housed on a 52-hectare area and has 25 stabling lines while the Yamuna Bank Depot on a 35-hectare area has 26 stabling lines.
The MMRDA is also constructing another car depot at Malvani in Malad for the Metro 2 corridor. “Generally, Metro corridors have depots on either side of the alignment for better maintenance,” said a senior official. Another depot for Line 7 is to be constructed at Dahisar. “Till that depot is constructed, the rakes for that corridor can smoothly use the depot at Mandale. The facility will be so huge that it can cater to all the corridors,” he added. A car depot is needed for any Metro corridor for stabling and maintenance of rakes.