Integration of Metro Lines with common depot in Kanjurmarg would result in robust timetable: MMRDA report

An integrated depot at Kanjurmarg has been the demand of environmentalists and activists vying to keep the facility away from Aarey Colony, a possibility which has grown dimmer in recent days

Mumbai A simulation study, commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in early 2021 -- to “examine the technical feasibility of operational integration of Metro lines 3 and 6” -- had found that integrating the two lines, with a common car-shed at Kanjurmarg, would not only be operationally feasible but would result in a “robust” and “resilient” timetable in which running trains would be able to recover from any “small deviations of their scheduled times which are part of real operations”.

The 2021 simulation study, carried out by SYSTRA (a French consulting firm working in the field of public infrastructure and transport), also satisfies a key requirement of the 2020 Manoj Saunik Committee report (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

It was on the basis of this simulation report (among other materials) that a technical committee in January 2021, headed by the then chief secretary of Maharashtra, Sanjay Kumar, recommended an integrated Metro-3 and -6 car shed in Kanjurmarg. The complete report, obtained under the RTI Act, was made publicly available earlier this month by the Aarey Conservation Group.

An integrated depot at Kanjurmarg has been the demand of environmentalists and activists vying to keep the facility away from Aarey Colony, a possibility which has grown dimmer in recent days with the MMRCL swiftly cleaning the plot of remaining vegetation.

The 2021 simulation study, carried out by SYSTRA (a French consulting firm working in the field of public infrastructure and transport), also satisfies a key requirement of the 2020 Manoj Saunik Committee report under the MVA government, which had shunned the idea of an integrated depot at Kanjurmarg. The Saunik report cited the lack of empirical evidence to show that integrating the two lines would be feasible. Excerpts from this report, which were ‘leaked’ by Devendra Fadnavis in October 2020, had called for a “complete operational planning review of the two lines running together along the same viaduct” JVLR and Kanjurmarg.

“What is a success after multiple simulations is the robustness and resilience of the timetable... In case of some small delays, the system is able to recover from a nominal situation. Any critical points were not identified during this study,” the simulation report states.

Zoru Bhatena, a petitioner in the Aarey matter before the Supreme Court, said, “This simulation report by MMRDA fills all the gaps which the Saunik committee had relied on to claim that moving the car shed out of Aarey would result in the Metro-3 line being a disaster. The speculation was that you cannot have two train lines running along the same viaduct because it would not be operationally feasible. This claim has been busted by the MMRDA’s simulation study. The Sanjay Kumar report rightly relies on this study while recommending an integrated car shed at Kanjur. The current government is now finding ways to subvert this crucial data so that the car shed remains in Aarey.”

When contacted for a comment, Ashwini Bhide, managing director, MMRCL, declined to speak. However, the simulation study was a key component in a letter written to the Maharashtra government in March this year, by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), which cited long-term operational and maintenance difficulties in shifting the car-shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg. “The simulation exercise done by SYSTRA is incomplete as no simulation internal to the depot has been done,” stated the letter.

To be sure, the simulation report does point out some operational challenges in the proposal for an integrated depot at Kanjurmarg. It points out that trains will have to run an extra seven kilometres between SEEPZ and Kanjurmarg, which will lead to increased energy use. It also says that such a proposal will lead to increased maintenance time for Metro-6 trains and that a “single failure of point and crossing between Lines 3 & 6 will seriously affect introduction and withdrawal of trains from Line 6 to Line 3 and vice-versa.” However, it says that such an outcome can be mitigated by constructing an alternative crossover channel between the two lines.

These hindrances, according to environmentalists, can be easily fixed. “There are problems of operation and maintenance even on the existing Western Line of the Mumbai Railway. Similar problems exist on any railway line and can be overcome with adequate planning. It is sad to see that a proper, scientifically modelled study, which has successfully demonstrated the viability of the integrated depot and metro lines, is being cast aside by the current government with the Centre’s backing,” said Bhatena.