Mumbai: Metro work on WEH pushes people to opt for trains

With the ongoing hum around the full-fledged construction of the Dahisar-Andheri Metro, commuters on the Western Express Highway and Link Road are on the edge

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the first U-girder of the Metro-7 corridor halting traffic on Western Express Highway (WEH) on Tuesday

With the ongoing hum around the full-fledged construction of the Dahisar-Andheri Metro, commuters on the Western Express Highway and Link Road are on the edge. Constant traffic snarls and long hours spent in reaching their destination has pushed over 92,000 additional daily commuters over the last two financial years towards the local train services.

Also read - Mumbai: Western Express Highway shut for 5 hours as CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurates Metro 7 girder

However, the troubles are about to worsen as the MMRC is now planning the Andheri (E)-Bandra (E) metro rail that will be built at an additional cost of Rs 4,500 crore on this 9-km road. If the work for this begins in a year or two, the traffic situation on WEH will only get worse.

Currently, the vehicular traffic is surging to such an extent that during peak hours, it takes nearly two hours just to travel between Andheri and Borivli on the WEH. Now, worried that as people make the switch from private cars, Ubers, Olas and autorickshaws to the locals, the Western Railways may not be able to handle the burden and has therefore put together a plan of action.

"We are contemplating about the possible increase in the number of suburban commuters. We will add new services and also change the timetable," said a WR official.

According to the figures collated by the WR, the stations on this route have seen a rise already. Up to 2016-17, Andheri saw a rise of 6,000 commuters, Goregaon of 2,000 commuters, Kandivli and Borivli has gone up by 8,000 and 2,000 commuters respectively. Officials claim they are already running at full capacity and operating 1,323 services is an intricate task. "We will increase it with more than 20 services by the first half of June, which will run mainly between the Andheri and Virar section. This addition shall be made in the new timetable," said Ravindra Bhakar, Chief PRO, WR.

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