Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey flagged off the trial runs for Mumbai’s two new metro rail lines on Monday. Metro ’2A’ (Dahisar-Aarey) and ‘Metro-07’ (Dahanukarwadu to Aarey) will run along the Link Road and Western Express Highway in the Western suburbs of Mumbai.
These two rail lines will be fully operational from January 2022 and the first phase of Metro-2A and Metro-7 will commence from October. A daily average of 9 lakh passengers will be able to travel after the metro opens up for the people. Environmentalists claim this to be a good example of demonstrating how two or more metro lines can co-exist in a single-car shed.
During the commencement of trial runs from Aakurli Metro station on Western Express station, CM Uddhav Thackrey was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Urban Development minister Eknath Shinde, Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackrey and others.
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Over the trial runs, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) spokesperson said, “The oscillation trial of prototype six-car rake will be conducted on Line 2A (yellow line) and Line 7 (Red line) at various speeds. The sub-systems, other equipment will be tested under dynamic conditions. Integration with signaling, telecom and Platform Screen Doors will be tested along with different safety tests.”
By October 2022, a total of 10 trainsets will be available and the commercial operations are planned in October 2021 in this stretch on both lines. Metro 2A is 17.5 km long and Metro 7 has a length of 18.6km.
Both metro lines are sanctioned by the state government on October 6, 2015, and the Bhoomipujan was performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11, 2015.