Last tunnel of Mumbai Metro’s Line 7A, important connectivity link to airport, completed: MMRDA

The 1.65-km upline tunnel of a diameter of 5.6 m was built with 1,178 tunnel-lining rings of 1.4 m. Precast ring segments in six pieces were used as liners.

The driving of the tunnel started on November 4, 2023, and drove under critical infrastructure items such as Metro Line 3, the Sahar Elevated Road ramp, a principal underground sewer pipeline, and a water pipe. Line 7A, which is 3.17 km long, runs from Andheri East to CSMIA’s Terminal 2. It has elevated and underground portions.

The line will have two stations–Airport Colony and CSIA Terminal 2–and will be configured to link with the running Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line) and, later on, Metro Line 8 (Gold Line), which will be connected to Navi Mumbai International Airport. So far, 61 per cent of the total alignment of Line 7A has been completed, according to officials.

The work is being undertaken by J Kumar Infraprojects Limited, which was given the project contract by the MMRDA in September 2019. The Rs 1,998-crore contract involves the construction of a viaduct, ramp, underground tunnels and metro stations. The same company used Dhruv in the Metro Line 3 project from 2018 to 2021.

Metro Line 7A is a part of an extension of Metro Line 9, also called Red Line, which has an estimated cost of Rs 6,518 crore. Line 7A is said to enhance connectivity to the airport.