The latest Metro

Lord Ganapati and all other Mumbaikars know how desperately their city needs a public transport system.

Lord Ganapati and all other Mumbaikars know how desperately their city needs a public transport system. Notwithstanding new flyovers and existing local trains, travelling in Mumbai, especially between the ‘city’ and its suburbs, can put off the bravest resident or visitor. So if any Indian city needs a Metro rail service, it has to be Mumbai. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister inaugurated the first phase of a Mass Rapid Transit System, which, if schedules are kept, will be operational from 2009. Two other phases and 15 years later, 146.5 km of Mumbai not covered by the suburban rail system should be connected.

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As Delhiites and Calcuttans know, public transport problems won’t be alleviated overnight by a Metro system. In fact, the Rs 19,500 crore project will probably increase travelling woes for a while because of construction. But as in the two other metropolises with Metros, Mumbaikars will reap benefits. An average of 47,5046 passengers are expected to travel daily once the first phase, connecting Versova in the west and Ghatkopar in the east, becomes operational in 2009. A distance of 11 km, which takes more than an hour by road during traffic hours, will take 21 minutes.

Most of the system will run on elevated tracks, the rest running underground. This has drawn some flak from environmentalists worried that the Metro will destroy Mumbai’s skyline. This could tempt the cynical response: ‘What skyline?’ But instead, one should simply consider that a Metro in place need not be unmindful of urban aesthetics or planning. The 18 million people of India’s most populous metropolis needed an alternate mode of public transport. At last, they will be getting it. The authorities should only ensure that this ‘train’ doesn’t get delayed.