Mumbai: 22 Metro trains await inauguration

Andheri West station on Yellow Line 2A

The soon-to-be-inaugurated Metro lines 2A and 7 will enable commuters to travel from Andheri West to Dahisar along Link Road in 40 minutes and from Gundavli to Dahisar East in 35 minutes respectively.

A day after the formal flag-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 19, starting at 4 pm, 244 services, involving twenty-two trains, will be operated per day on the complete stretch of Andheri West (DN Nagar) to Dahisar West and from there - via the Western Express Highway - to Dahisar East. From there, the trains will head to Gundavli in Andheri East along the highway.

A common mobility card, National Common Mobility Card or NCMC, will also be launched the same day to be used on these two lines as well as on Line 1.
About 44 trains are expected to arrive for both lines of which about 28 are already here; 22 of them to be put into service. The first train from Andheri West (DN Nagar) station will be at 6 am and the last one at 9.24 pm. The first train from Gundavli will be at 5.55 am and the last one around 9.20 pm.

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Andheri station

The Andheri West station and Gundavli are integrated with Line 1. The former station is a three-level single-pier cantilever station, linked to existing Blue Line 1 Versova-Ghatkopar, connected with Andheri (DN Nagar) station (Line 1) at two levels for seamless passenger movement between the two Metro Lines.

This additional level has been provided due to the fact that there is already a running Metro Line i.e. Metro Line 1 just after the station location. In order to cross Metro Line 1 safely, the rail level of Metro Line 2A had to be increased by 22 metres above the road level, increasing height of the platform level 8 metres higher than the usual platform height Therefore, to utilise the increased height, an additional level has been introduced.

"Andheri station itself will serve approximately 30,000 passengers. They will be using it in peak times daily as this station is connected with Line 1. It will also become a conjunction point for passengers travelling from Andheri West to either the north or east direction. The travel time for passengers boarding from Dahisar to Goregaon section to Ghatkopar will be reduced significantly," said Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas.

Certifications in place

Earlier, the MMRDA on Thursday announced that the testing of trains, signalling system, civil works and track and speed trials had been completed by the commissioner of Metro rail safety (CMRS) and that the authority had received the final safety certificate, which is a mandatory requirement for public use of a Metro rail system.

After receiving technical approvals and certificate from Rail Designs and Standard Organisation (RDSO) for item, dimensions, braking, traction and power supply system, train sets, track structure, fastening system, signalling and telecommunication and platform screen doors, MMRDA has approached CMRS for the final safety inspection and granted mandatory safety certificates required for public carriage.

"MMRDA has received the safety certificate for the commercial operations of the Metro Line. We are ready to provide world-class service to Mumbaikars. The chief minister and deputy chief minister inspected Gundavli Metro station on Thursday in view of the commissioning of Phase-2," said Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas.

The Yellow Line 2A (DN Nagar, Andheri to Dahisar) passes from Link Road and Red Line 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East) passes from Western
Express Highway.

The 35-kilometre-long Mumbai Metro Lines 2A and 7 comprise 30 elevated stations; of which the Phase 1, between Aarey and Dhanukarwadi, was opened to the public in April last year on Gudi Padwa. The stretch is currently drawing a daily ridership of 25,000.

Ahead of its official inauguration next week, Shinde confirmed that the prime minister would flag off trains on Yellow Metro Line 2A and Red Metro Line 7 and dedicate them to the nation.

22
No. of trains that will be operated on 2 lines