How ready is your nearest metro rail?

By Ateeq Shaikh
Here’s the status of various metro lines coming up in MMR
The metro lines being constructed through the length and breadth of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) are at various stages of completion, some are nearly ready while some have a long way to go.
At the moment, there are 10 metro projects in Mumbai, including the operational Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route. It took almost a decade for this line to be operational. On the other hand, after over a decade, Navi Mumbai Line 1 between Belapur and Pendhar is just 70 per cent ready with trial runs having commenced for a short distance of less than a kilometre. “This project implemented by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has been handed over to Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha Metro) for engineering assistance, operation and maintenance,” said Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, CIDCO.
As per the statistics submitted to Parliament, as of June 30 2021, Dahisar-D N Nagar metro line 2A is 95.10 per cent ready, but its second and longer phase 2B – D N Nagar to Mankhurd is only 10.05 per cent complete. The MMRDA plans to operationalise 2A, once it is ready.
Starting May, trial runs have commenced on lines 2A and 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East). MMRDA officials have assured these two lines to be fully operational for the public by October 2021. Dahisar East to Andheri East metro corridor is 96 per cent ready.

Though work is being executed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) on Mumbai’s only underground line – Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ, but the car depot from where the services will start and terminate is nowhere in sight. “The Maharashtra government is yet to decide on the car depot’s location, thereby subjecting this route to an indefinite delay,” said an MMRC official requesting anonymity.
Construction work continues on the rest of the metro corridors of 4, 5, 6 and 9 (7A) with several challenges and bottlenecks yet to be removed. These four metro lines of Wadala-Ghatkopar-Thane-Kasarvadavali, Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan, Swami Samath Nagar (Lokhandwala)-Kanjurmarg and Dahisar East to Mira-Bhayander are far from completion.