Metro 1 by December next year

“The project is not just civil construction. It includes rolling stock,signalling,power supply,communications etc. Civil construction is about 60 per cent complete against all odds. The overall progress has been excellent,” said K P Maheshwari,director,Metro One.

Ratnakar Gaikwad,Metropolitan Commissioner,said December 2010 would mean completion ahead of schedule as the concession agreement had specified five years as the construction period. Metro One,however,had set itself a deadline of July 2010. “By July civil construction will be completed and people will see the train run on the corridor,” Gaikwad said.

A few hurdles,however,remain. Maheshwari said nearly 2.5 km in pockets remains to be handed over. One such stretch is from SV Road junction to a mosque near the Andheri railway tracks,where the pier for a bridge will come up. Another stretch is in Andheri East,from the station and nearly up to Western Express Highway. From Mahakali Caves to LBS Marg,the entire road barring a 500-metre stretch remains to be handed over. Metro One is also waiting for the handover of a small stretch near the depot,which has been encroached on and without which rakes can’t enter,Maheshwari said.

Another hurdle is the construction of a bridge over the Andheri railway tracks. Construction has been set back 12 months after the railways asked Metro One to lower the bridge. “We had everything ready before the change in design,” Maheshwari said.

The railways are allowing construction only for two-three hours,when services are shut. Metro One is still awaiting a go-ahead to start work on the tracks. “We’ve pursued the matter with the general manger of Western Railway. There is an issue with the format of the agreement between the railways and the MMRDA but in the meantime we’ve requested the railways to allow work on the lines to start,” Gaikwad said.

The first batch of air-conditioned Metro rakes built in China will arrive by January 2010. “From the time the rolling stock comes in,it will take five months to complete work on the corridor. That would be around June,” Maheswari said.