The expansion of Mumbai Metro Line 3 up to Navy Nagar, covering a five-kilometer stretch, is currently in progress.
According to the Indian Express, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for this extension has been completed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) and is now awaiting approval from the state government.
The decision to extend Metro 3 to Navy Nagar was announced during the 2022-23 budget speech by the then Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. This decision was made in response to a request from the Indian Navy office to the state government.
The extension is expected to benefit the densely populated area, including residential quarters for central government employees and others.
Construction of the extended Metro line is scheduled to begin in 2025, following the completion and commencement of commercial operations of the existing Metro Line 3.
Trial Run in November
The existing Metro Line 3 is an underground metro spanning over 33 km, connecting Colaba to SEEPZ via Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
It will connect the Cuffe Parade business district in the extreme south of the city to SEEPZ in the north-central with 26 underground and one at-grade station.
The Mumbai Metro Rail is currently gearing up to start the trial run of the first phase between Aarey and BKC. This follows the successful completion of the first long-distance trial from MIDC to Vidyanagari Metro station and back to SEEPZ, covering 17 kilometers.
Currently, the MMRC is focused on laying tracks for the remaining part of the first phase. Subsequently, they will proceed with installing overhead electrical lines in both directions, paving the way for trial runs on the complete Phase 1 between Aarey and BKC stations.
Once the trial runs are concluded, MMRC will approach the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) to inspect the network. Commercial operation can begin after a green signal is received from CMRS.
A noteworthy feature is that Metro line 3 is the first UTO (Unattended Train Operation) project in Mumbai. In the initial phase, these trains will have a pilot onboard. However, after a few months, MMRC intends to seek CMRS approval for the operation of the trains in the driverless mode.
MMRC has already acquired all nine trainsets required for Phase I operation. The authority has awarded a contract valued at approximately 315 million Euros to the French manufacturer Alstom for the supply of 31 metro trainsets of eight cars each.
While the complete designing and development of the metro cars are being undertaken at Alstom’s Bangalore engineering center, the 248 metro cars are being manufactured at its state-of-the-art rolling stock manufacturing unit in Sri City, Chennai.