 "Finally! Mumbai Metro to open to the public from Sunday")
Mumbai: The Mumbai metro will finally startcommercial operations from tomorrow after a delay of threeyears, providing much-needed relief to the commuters in thebustling metropolis where the overburdened suburban railwaysferries seventy lakh people every day.
Services on the 11.4 km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkoparstretch, Phase 1 of the project, will commence tomorrow andtrains will be available every four minutes, Mumbai Metro OnePvt Ltd (MMOPL) Chief Executive Abhay Mishra today.
The announcement by the operator came after local BJPMP Krit Somaiya yesterday threatened to start metro servicesby “force”.
For the city where the sight of harried passengersclinging precariously to the doors and windows of overcrowdedcoaches of suburban trains is common, the metro will give anew travel experience.
The company said it will operate 200-250 services aday, carrying around 11 lakh passengers. Every coach can carry375 passengers, while the entire train can transport 1,500commuters.
The metro service comes four months after the city gotthe country’s first monorail between suburban Chembur andWadala on 1 February this year.
MMOPL has fixed a minimum fare of Rs 10 and a maximumRs 40 for a one way journey, Mishra said.
The Maharashtra government had earlier notified a fareband of Rs 9-13 but MMOPL demanded high fares, citing costescalation in the three-phase project, work on which begannearly eight years ago.
MMOPL is a joint venture company formed by RelianceInfrastructure, Veolia Transport and the Mumbai MetropolitanRegion Development Authority.
The Railway Board had on Thursday given its greensignal for commencement of the services.
PTI