Mumbai: Metro line 3 to be linked to main line at CSMT

Barricades placed at old CSMT subway for the connector. Pic/Atul Kamble

The work on connecting the old subway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus with the Mumbai Metro Aqua Line 3 has finally taken off. Barricades have been placed in the subway near the Canon entry point. "The existing subway of CSMT is being linked with an underground pathway access with Aqua Line 3 CSMT for seamless connectivity, so that commuters do not have to come on to the surface to change the mode of transit," said Subodh K Gupta, director (projects) at Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).

Barricades placed at old CSMT subway for the connector. Pic/Atul Kamble

The Mumbai Metro Line 3 is one of the key lines that is integrating with Mumbai CSMT and Churchgate - two of the city's biggest termini. The Metro line will have its modern stations beside the century-old Victorian gothic heritage structures. The CSMT subway, which has an area of 2,870 square metres, had been built at a cost of Rs 15 crore, was thrown open to the public in September 1999.

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"The Metro station at CSMT is getting a total of three similar accessways across the road. There will be one outside the BMC head office annexe building, and the other entry point near the Cama Hospital gate," said the MMRC official. This ambitious line is also the first and only fully underground Metro corridor proposed for Mumbai. The 33.5-km-long Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor is an important project to improve the transportation scenario in the city with 26 underground stations.

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The Mumbai Metro Line 3 integrates with suburban railway, other Mumbai Metro lines and existing transport modes at around eight locations. Apart from Churchgate and CSMT railway stations, the Metro line will also connect to Grant Road and Mumbai Central stations. The line is also close to the MSRTC bus depot and Dadar station. Metro-3 will also be close to Monorail at Mahalaxmi and integrate with Metro lines 2B and 1.

26
Total no. of underground stations on Line 3

33.5 km
Length to be covered by Metro Line 3