Mumbai Metro 2B trial runs to begin on Wednesday

The trial runs will start on a a 5.3-km section of the route between Mandale in Mankhurd and Diamond Garden in Chembur

Mumbai: Residents of the eastern suburbs will be able to spot metro rail trains for the first time in their neighbourhood on Wednesday, with trial runs for a 5.3-km section of the 18.59-km 2B route (DN Nagar, Andheri West to Mandale, Mankhurd) beginning ahead of its launch later this year.

Mumbai, India - June 29, 2021:--------------------in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, June 29, 2021. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to operationalise the portion between Mandale and Diamond Garden in Chembur for the trial. This includes five stations—Mandale, Mankhurd, BSNL, Shivaji Chowk and Diamond Garden. At Mandale, a double-deck car depot has been constructed on 31 acres of land to accommodate up to 72 metro trains at a time.

“Last week, we successfully electrified the overhead equipment. As a step towards making the metro corridor open for the public, trial runs would commence from Wednesday,” said an MMRDA official, requesting anonymity.

Some of the tests that will be conducted include dynamic and static trials, braking, acceleration, signalling, telecommunications, operational systems, energy consumption, and system integration.

Based on the satisfactory results of the preliminary test runs, the Indian Railways’ Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) team will be invited to certify the system for the next step, which is calling the Independent Safety Assessor. The assessor will ensure the technical and operational soundness of all the systems as per the safety guidelines. The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety will then inspect the system and, if satisfied, certify it as fit for public operations.

Metro 2B will be launched in phases. While the Mandale to Diamond Garden section will be ready for public use by December, the opening of the Diamond Gardento DN Nagar portion has been rescheduled from December 2025 to early 2026.

The entire Mumbai Metro 2 line, which will provide connectivity between Mumbai’s western and eastern suburbs, has been split into two phases: 2A (Dahisar to DN Nagar) and 2B (DN Nagar to Mandale). The 23.64-km 2A line is already operational.