City’s first Metro line to function by August 2011

The city’s first Metro line — Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar — will be ready by August 2011, 62 months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the project’s foundation stone.

The city’s first Metro line — Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar — will be ready by August 2011, 62 months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the project’s foundation stone.

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It is expected to carry six lakh commuters a day.

The system was to be operational by July 2009, but was delayed after public opposition and litigation over a 31-acre plot earmarked for a parking shed. Work began in February 2008.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which is coordinating the building of the city’s Metro lines, said the civic work would be complete on the 11.07-km line by March 2011. “After that, we’ll need a few months for trial runs,” said Joint Metropolitan Commissioner Ashwini Bhide.

“A major segment, over Andheri station, is left. Three piers have been cleared and we hope to complete it in eight months,” Bhide said.

Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, the first corridor in Phase 1 of the Mumbai Metro Rail Project, is expected to cost Rs 2,356 crore and will connect the central and western suburbs. Its is being built by Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd, floated by Reliance Infrastructure.