Metro Rail Inaugurated by Prithviraj Chavan amidst fanfare

After over two years of delay, the Mumbai Metro was finally inaugurated on Sunday morning by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at Versova Car Depot.

Chavan as well as Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials had objected to Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) for declaring higher fares for the commuters.

Chavan on Saturday afternoon had cleared that he will inaugurate the latest transportation mode of Mumbai only if RInfra assures that the fares hiked by themselves (of a minimum of Rs 10 and a maximum of Rs 40) will not be charged.

The 11.4 km long Versova – Andheri – Ghatkopar route was taken up on priority by the state government for it’s East-West connectivity. It is expected that metro will marginally reduce footfalls at Dadar railway junction, which is a junction for interchange. However, more footfalls are anticipated at Andheri and Ghatkopar railway stations.

Presently, for office goers on Andheri Ghatkopar Link Road, it is a daily nightmare to hop on to a bus for their workplaces or nearest railway station (in the evening) or to get an auto rickshaw. Having a metro will surely ease this part of the commute.

The travelling duration between Versova and Ghatkopar will come down from over 90 minutes to just 21 minutes (expect time taken to buy tickets and for security check) as the metro will help in bypassing 45 traffic signals.

Currently concessional and promotional fare of just Rs 10 is being charged for a single trip for the first 30 days, irrespective of the distance travelled on the route.

#MumbaiMetro inaugurated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan @dna #Mumbai gets new transportation mode.

— Ateeq Shaikh (@tweetateeq) June 8, 2014

Western Express Highway as seen from #MumbaiMetro @dna #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/XsxsoWtKYE

— Ateeq Shaikh (@tweetateeq) June 7, 2014