The trial run of Mumbai's first underground Metro line 3, also known as Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ line, which has been under construction since 2016, will start Tuesday, said the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), which is executing the 33.5km-long underground Metro corridor. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will flag off the trial run at Sariput Nagar in Aarey, where a temporary car shed has been built for assembling Metro car rakes. The trial run will be held inside a 3-km tunnel stretch between the temporary facility of Sariput Nagar and Marol Naka station. An MMRCL official said that the trains will be tested on various parameters, including speed, oscillation, and emergency brake distance, during their 10,000km test runs that will be conducted over a six-month period. “These tests will be conducted in the tunnels commencing from the temporary facility area and the trial could go on for over three-six months,” the official said. The 33.5-km-long underground Metro route will connect south Mumbai and its suburbs, and the line will be commissioned in two phases. Accordingly, MMRCL is planning to complete Phase 1 of the corridor between SEEPZ and BKC by December 2023 and the second phase between BKC and Colaba by June 2024. Originally, the work on Metro 3 line was expected to be completed in 2021. However, the 2021 deadline was missed and the cost of the project escalated to Rs 37,275 crore from Rs 23,136 crore, said sources. As per the initial plan, the first phase of MML-3 between Bandra and Seepz was planned to be completed by December 2021 and the second phase from Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to Colaba by the second half of 2024. However, due to delays in the project, MMRCL is now planning to complete the first phase by January 2024 and second after one-and-a-half years, provided the Metro car shed issue is resolved. The second phase of the project from Colaba to BKC is expected to be completed by mid-2025. The Metro-3 car shed was initially proposed at Aarey Colony during Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena government. While it saw opposition from environment activists, after the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in November 2019, the plan of a car shed at Aarey was scrapped by then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who announced to shift it to Kanjurmarg. On June 30, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis duo, in their first cabinet meeting held after assuming power, overturned the previous Thackeray led government's decision of moving the carshed of the Metro 3 car shed from Aarey. Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis directed the Urban Development Department officials to bring a proposal for building the car shed at Aarey. The move to shift the car shed out of Aarey has been a major bone of contention between the Shiv Sena and its former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
