More than 7 years after laying foundation stone, PM Modi to inaugurate Mumbai Metro Lines 2A, 7 today

Both these metro lines were sanctioned by the Fadnavis government along with other 300 km metro lines in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, including the city’s first underground Metro Line 3 that stretches from Colaba to SEEPZ via BKC, to bring connectivity in the city and adjoining areas.

Route Map of Metro Line 2A. (Express Photo)

City’s first metro line, Versova-Ghatkopar, was built in eight years

Prior to Metro Lines 2A and 7, Mumbai city only had an 11-km-long elevated metro corridor between Versova and Ghatkopar. Commissioned in June 2014, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of the city’s first metro line during the UPA government rule in 2006. However, work only began in 2008 due to land acquisition issues and it took over eight years for the work to get completed after the foundation stone was laid. Presently, this metro line has a ridership of 3.8 lakh on weekdays, down from the pre-Covid figure of 4.5 lakh. A total of 380 trips are made daily to cater to the demand.

Route of Metro Line 2A & 7 . (Express Photo)

Metro Lines 2A and 7

The Line 2A corridor is from Dahisar East to D N Nagar in Andheri West. The 18.6-km fully elevated stretch has 17 stations — Andheri (West), Lower Oshiwara, Oshiwara, Goregaon (West), Pahadi Goregaon, Lower Malad, Malad (West), Valnai, Dahanukarwadi, Kandivali (West), Pahadi Eksar, Borivali (West), Eksar, Mandapeshwar, Kandarpada, Upper Dahisar and Dahisar (East).

The Line 7 corridor from Andheri to Dahisar has a 16.5-km fully elevated stretch running along the Western Express Highway covering 13 stations — Gundavali, Mogra, Jogeshwari (East), Goregaon (East), Aarey, Dindoshi, Kurar, Akurli, Poisar, Magathane, Devipada, RashtriyaUdyan and Ovaripada.

The pandemic impact

Work on Metro Lines 2A and 7 was affected due to the pandemic-induced lockdowns that saw travel restrictions and migration of workers to their native places. Metro Lines 2A and 7 were expected to begin commercial operations in December 2020. However, the pandemic delayed construction work. Besides, the project cost also escalated. The revised cost of Line 2A is Rs 6, 410 crores and that of Line 7 it is Rs 6,208 crores.

Deadlines were issued to begin operations on both these metro lines, however, they could not be met. In April 2022, a 20 km stretch between Aarey and Dhanukarwadi was opened to the public. The average ridership on this partial stretch is 25,000 daily and now with the commissioning of the entire 35km stretch, it can carry a ridership of 3-4 lakh daily, helping reduce road traffic and crowding on local trains, and reducing travel time by 75%.

Integration with Mumbai Metro One (Versova and Ghatkopar)

* DN Nagar (Metro One) <&gt; Andheri (W) (Line 2A)

* WEH (Metro One) <> Gundavali (Line 7)