Woohoo! Finally live pics of the MM1 coaches :banana::banana: Many thanks for posting, anekho :cheers:

Are these pics taken in China or have the first coaches already arrived in Mumbai?

Are these pics taken in China or have the first coaches already arrived in Mumbai?

Based on the last few pics, they are definitely on the MbPT road.

Wow the rolling stock looks awesome!! Best I've seen for a metro yet.. :cheers:

awesome pic!!!!! ^^ thats in mumbai i think....this week suppose to get delivery.....

Why they have written Reliance metro on it. So Reliance has become bigger than Mumbai :ohno:

they will probably be made to change it. this might be a temporary job, i doubt this will be the absolute final look of the rolling stock

Woo Hoo... Amazing pictures.

Really? Does Reliance have to sponsor everything?! :bash:

Anyway, thanks for the pics.

they are not sponsoring it. they run it :D

actually the Reliance metro logo looks awfully like the Namma metro

actually the Reliance metro logo looks awfully like the Namma metro

Good observation. Has Mumbai finalized a logo for it's metro (or for metro 1), or are they still throwing ideas around?

whoa... baby is finally home..
hope to see it flying on mumbai tracks soon..

Awsome .. Thanks for posting the pic

^^ thanks. look like its "Hindi Cheni Bhai Bhai" all over again. :banana::banana:

definitely lot sexier than Delhi metro dabbas. Thank you Relience Metro not going to same folks as Delhi metro. this & monorail will do world of good for Bombay in coming future.

Definitely looks damn good! I hope though that the logo will be that of Mumbai metro rather than Reliance.

not to rain on this awesome photo parade but here goes:

MMRDA wants railways to help in metro work (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mmrda-wants-railways-to-help-in-metro-work_1372638)

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) finally seems to be learning from its mistakes. After suffering numerous delays for the construction of a barely 180 metre long Rail Over Bridge (RoB) for the first metro running between Versova-Andheri and Ghatkopar (VAG), the authority has now written to the Central Railways (CR) proposing to construct portions of metro and monorail by themselves.

MMRDA metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said that after the difficulties they faced in the VAG corridor, MMRDA has decided to get more participation from the railways in future.
Elaborating about the work participation, Gaikwad added that the authority wants railways to do its bit in the metro construction.

“Since the construction involves several permissions, which is a time consuming process, we have proposed the railways to
carry out construction work in their own area,” added Gaikwad.

seriously, screw IR. time to kick them out of bombay

OMG

we are so screwed

I see... so this means that when crossing over IR built sections of Metro, there is an announcement made and then doors open while moving and people start hanging outside. They turn off AC and suddenly thousands of people jump into the trains. Fabulous.

Actually the main problem would be with delays. Kolkata Metro construction quality is fairly decent, am I right?

Probably the best looking metro rolling stock I've seen.

looks good..

seriously, screw IR. time to kick them out of bombay

OMG we are so screwed

Actually the main problem would be with delays. ...

what mmrda is saying is that it takes longer for IR to give permissions than it will take them (IR) to do the actual construction. and this for a supposed 'high' profile infrastructure project on which the PMO is keeping tabs. IR is willfully holding back permissions and so now mmrda has capitulated and asked them (IR) to go ahead themselves with the construction.

note that the monorail will cross rail lines in 3 places (near refinery, wadala, and currey road) metro 2 will cross in 2 places (kurla, bandra)

if anyone is interested, here is the legal definition of extortion.

The obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right.

Under the Common Law, extortion is a misdemeanor consisting of an unlawful taking of money by a government officer. It is an oppressive misuse of the power with which the law clothes a public officer.

whoa... baby is finally home..
hope to see it flying on mumbai tracks soon..

baby ;)..............

The beast in my dictionary................:banana:

what mmrda is saying is that it takes longer for IR to give permissions than it will take them (IR) to do the actual construction. and this for a supposed 'high' profile infrastructure project on which the PMO is keeping tabs. IR is willfully holding back permissions and so now mmrda has capitulated and asked them (IR) to go ahead themselves with the construction.

note that the monorail will cross rail lines in 3 places (near refinery, wadala, and currey road) metro 2 will cross in 2 places (kurla, bandra)

if anyone is interested, here is the legal definition of extortion.
:lol: Yes this is definitely extortion.

The rolling stocks look beautiful. I have tears in my eyes :'-/
Yeh khushi ke aasoon hain.

I think there were many folks in IR who were pissed/disappointed at not being involved in some way in the metro project, and there seems to have been a definite push in the IR mgmt. to make things difficult for the metro consortium. I can understand land acquisition from pvt interests taking time, but a ROB shudn't esp. for a project of this importance.

On a larger level though, I think this is a welcome step of sorts since in the bigger scheme of things it will ensure that things do go smoother. For one, we know that there is no public awareness of how the metro will integrate with existing IR lines vis-a-vis transfers. Hopefully now there will be an integrated approach in planning for future transportation systems in the city.

Why they have written Reliance metro on it. So Reliance has become bigger than Mumbai :ohno:

totally the first thing i thought as well!

Awesome pics there!

Excellent Pics! - But i am not convinced to see "Reliance Metro" instead of "Mumbai Metro", becauz i feel it should have local names...

Thankfully other metro systems in our country like Kolkata Metro Delhi Metro and Bangalore Metro is retaining the local city names (Bangalore Metro's idea of having local flavour in name as "Namma Metro" looks peppy and interesting)

screw the name, let them concentrate on timely execution and providing a good service.

A random construction pic in Andheri W - Between Link road and Lokhandwala complex road

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5017/18042010009.jpg

TOI
Mumbai: After showcasing the Monorail on Republic Day, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) now plans to do the same with the Metro rail on Independence Day. It has ambitious plans to hold the Metro’s trial run on August 15, 2010, instead of an earlier date in October. Moreover, it plans to complete work by December 2010.
MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said the exhibition run will be from Versova to Azad Maidan on J P Road, Andheri.
Gaikwad admitted that the initial plans were to have a Metro train run in May but it had to be postponed as the track was not ready.
MMRDA joint project director Dilip Kawathkar said the run will be executed on a 2 km stretch of the line.
Commissioned in February 2008, the civil work — construction of pillars for 12 stations and 12 km long viaduct — for the Versova-Andher-Ghatkopar metro line is now 60% complete, claimed MMRDA’s chief of transportation and communication wing P R K Murthy and director for Metro rail S P Khade. They say the piling work was 72% complete while that on stations and depot was more than 50% was over.
However, some MMRDA technocrats are sceptical whether the Metro would be able to meet its project deadline of December 2010, arguing that constructing all the 12 stations, Versova Depot, assembling of rakes, laying of tracks and commissioning the entire system with 16 four-car rakes will surely take time. Another challenge before the Metro is clearing a stretch of land for construction, due to various encroachments. Nevertheless, clearing of public property on the approximately 1.5-km stretch between Saki Naka and Golibar Road has now gained momentum. There are also two to three religious structures that are being shifted.
Other were optimistic. “Except for a few small acquisition hurdles and Railways permission, MMRDA has given almost 97% rightof-way (ROW) on the corridor for construction. Changes in the design have been made due to lack of full width available on the road and to meet the deadline,” claimed a top MMRDA official. “The work should be smoothly over by this year end,” hoped additional metropolitan commissioner S V R Srinivas.
It was what residents of Andheri like Mahesh Sood and Yogesh Joshi, hoped for too. “We wish the frequent traffic jams, heavy sound and air pollution get over this year alone. But looking at the existing status, it may take more time,” says Joshi, a civil engineer by profession.

Progress Chart

June ’06 | Bhoomi puja by PM Manmohan Singh Feb ’08 | Construction begins Oct ’09 | Deadline for construction of pillars and viaducts, but only 60% completed Construction of stations and Versova depot underway Jan ’10 | Deadline for tracks and electricity networking. It can happen only in August with the trial run
May ’10 | Bogies expected to arrive at Versova Depot, total 16 trains will run on the track
Dec ’10 | Deadline for commissioning line. May be extended by 3-4 months
Extended deadline for Metro | March 2012
Advertisement

TOI
Mumbai: After showcasing the Monorail on Republic Day, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) now plans to do the same with the Metro rail on Independence Day. It has ambitious plans to hold the Metro’s trial run on August 15, 2010, instead of an earlier date in October. Moreover, it plans to complete work by December 2010.
MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said the exhibition run will be from Versova to Azad Maidan on J P Road, Andheri.
Gaikwad admitted that the initial plans were to have a Metro train run in May but it had to be postponed as the track was not ready.
MMRDA joint project director Dilip Kawathkar said the run will be executed on a 2 km stretch of the line.
Commissioned in February 2008, the civil work — construction of pillars for 12 stations and 12 km long viaduct — for the Versova-Andher-Ghatkopar metro line is now 60% complete, claimed MMRDA’s chief of transportation and communication wing P R K Murthy and director for Metro rail S P Khade. They say the piling work was 72% complete while that on stations and depot was more than 50% was over.
However, some MMRDA technocrats are sceptical whether the Metro would be able to meet its project deadline of December 2010, arguing that constructing all the 12 stations, Versova Depot, assembling of rakes, laying of tracks and commissioning the entire system with 16 four-car rakes will surely take time. Another challenge before the Metro is clearing a stretch of land for construction, due to various encroachments. Nevertheless, clearing of public property on the approximately 1.5-km stretch between Saki Naka and Golibar Road has now gained momentum. There are also two to three religious structures that are being shifted.
Other were optimistic. “Except for a few small acquisition hurdles and Railways permission, MMRDA has given almost 97% rightof-way (ROW) on the corridor for construction. Changes in the design have been made due to lack of full width available on the road and to meet the deadline,” claimed a top MMRDA official. “The work should be smoothly over by this year end,” hoped additional metropolitan commissioner S V R Srinivas.
It was what residents of Andheri like Mahesh Sood and Yogesh Joshi, hoped for too. “We wish the frequent traffic jams, heavy sound and air pollution get over this year alone. But looking at the existing status, it may take more time,” says Joshi, a civil engineer by profession.

Progress Chart

June ’06 | Bhoomi puja by PM Manmohan Singh Feb ’08 | Construction begins Oct ’09 | Deadline for construction of pillars and viaducts, but only 60% completed Construction of stations and Versova depot underway Jan ’10 | Deadline for tracks and electricity networking. It can happen only in August with the trial run
May ’10 | Bogies expected to arrive at Versova Depot, total 16 trains will run on the track
Dec ’10 | Deadline for commissioning line. May be extended by 3-4 months
Extended deadline for Metro | March 2012
Advertisement



Sounds good.:banana::banana: india's 3rd metro network....

TOI
Mumbai: After showcasing the Monorail on Republic Day, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) now plans to do the same with the Metro rail on Independence Day. It has ambitious plans to hold the Metro’s trial run on August 15, 2010, instead of an earlier date in October. Moreover, it plans to complete work by December 2010.



So August comes after October??? :bash:

^^ The only thing I can think of that meaning is that it was an earlier announced date in October.

Yeah probably that's what it is. I hope it gets completed by December. I want to travel in the train when I visit the country during the time.

The pics look absolutely beautiful....Finally they are here...

Will the Metro accommodate dabbawalas?

http://natgeotv.com.au/programmes/megacities/videos/mumbai

Can somebody please ask the company building it?

Will the Metro accommodate dabbawalas?

http://natgeotv.com.au/programmes/megacities/videos/mumbai

Can somebody please ask the company building it?

I dont think so, the metro would not have the luggage compartments which the suburban trains have.

i find a problem in mumbai metro's doors
unlike delhi our doors dont slide outwards...... they r just like local train doors
it means there will b a little space outside the door......... what if ppl hang placing their toes on that place after doors close
.
.
it'll b pathetic n scarey............. hope this dosent happen:ohno::ohno:

i find a problem in mumbai metro's doors
unlike delhi our doors dont slide outwards...... they r just like local train doors
it means there will b a little space outside the door......... what if ppl hang placing their toes on that place after doors close
.
.
it'll b pathetic n scarey............. hope this dosent happen:ohno::ohno:

:lol:

On a serious note, I am surprised why CSR Nanjing built such doors. I have seen such kind of doors mostly on very old trains. New trains either have doors outside the train surface or they are along the surface and push out while opening.

I have read that doors which go inside the walls like this pose maintenance problems.

deleted

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331277d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-4-.jpg

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Hope you guys enjoy the looks of the metro coachs

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331279d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-9-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331283d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-20-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331281d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-15-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331282d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-21-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331284d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-badge.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331285d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-wheel-assbly.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331286d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-horn.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331291d1271486636t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-11-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331293d1271486636t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-14-.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331295d1271486636t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-18-.jpg

i wonder how long they will keep the plastic covers on. the average indian car buyer keeps it on for at least a year doesnt he? maybe cut holes for the doors, but thats it

I think all these pics were already posted a week back. By now their covers might be off.

yeah I read some forumer was gonna post "exclusive" pics of the rolling stock..
he later went on to become a laughing stalk :lol:

:D
pKRxX3s3JlM

i have watched this episode a 1000 times :lol:

yeah I read some forumer was gonna post "exclusive" pics of the rolling stock..
he later went on to become a laughing stalk :lol:

Whom are you talking about...????

humnn....is there any plans to introduce Airport express line in mumbai too..????

TOI
Gaikwad admitted that the initial plans were to have a Metro train run in May but it had to be postponed as the track was not ready.


Kinda cute, isn't it. Its like - oh, we were to have this wedding in May but suddenly reallsed we didn't have a bride

Whom are you talking about...????

humnn....is there any plans to introduce Airport express line in mumbai too..????

He was Ashis Mitra.

Bandra-Colaba line will be extended to airport.

Mumbai does not needs an airport express as its airport is centrally located in the city. People come from all directions. On the other hand, Delhi airport is situated almost in corner, so there are many people coming from one direction (central Delhi and Dhaula Kuan).

will need an airport express for new bombay (if and when)

will need an airport express for new bombay (if and when)

for even Kalyan (if it gets shifted there).

will need an airport express for new bombay (if and when)

Keep on dreaming about it.

Mumbai does not needs an airport express as its airport is centrally located in the city. People come from all directions.

Mumbai still needs airport express. Perhaps 2 lines forming an Y-shape (one straight and second meeting mid-way at airport) wherein the airport is located at the intersection of the "Y" and bottom of Y is towards south mumbai, would be able to cater well.

Mumbai still needs airport express. Perhaps 2 lines forming an Y-shape (one straight and second meeting mid-way at airport) wherein the airport is located at the intersection of the "Y" and bottom of Y is towards south mumbai, would be able to cater well.

Why not an ordinary metro line ?

the new coaches look amazing.

Why not an ordinary metro line ?

I remember reading that there would be an airport express line in the later phases. Also if and when new airport comes up at Navi Mumbai / Kalyan, it would be good idea to link up these two airports. It would serve as airport connectivity as well as cater to the suburbs in between.

I guess there needs to be integrated planning.

Why not an ordinary metro line ?

Because in a city like Mumbai the crowds are so dense that you can barely enter inside the train your own self forget the big luggage and suitcases. You need an airport line that has dedicated luggage racks and stops selectively at major stations in every locality so that you don't need a cab(and traffic jams) all the way to airport. It is the financial capital and deserves it every bit.

Because in a city like Mumbai the crowds are so dense that you can barely enter inside the train your own self forget the big luggage and suitcases. You need an airport line that has dedicated luggage racks and stops selectively at major stations in every locality so that you don't need a cab(and traffic jams) all the way to airport. It is the financial capital and deserves it every bit.

You are thinking only for the rich people, not for the ordinary folks. If airport express gets built from say South Mumbai to CSIA, then ordinary metro line will not be built parallel to it because of obvious reasons. Airport express will be used by only handful of people who want to visit airport, while ordinary metro line will be used by even those people who do not want to visit airport but say from Colaba to Mahalaxmi.

Airport express have many times more expensive tickets and are used by only a small fraction of people. For eg, Delhi's 23 km airport express will attract 20,000 people per day while an ordinary line with same length attract more than 2,00,000 people per day. We should not get sentimental with the fact that Mumbai is financial capital, so it should get an AE. Rather it should get what it actually needs. Show-off doesn't helps much. I would even prefer normal line for airport in Delhi than AE.

you dont need an express line to the current airport. normal metro will suffice since people with heavy luggage will still take cars/cabs as its not that expensive in india, even for students/backpackers

we may need one for the new airport to ensure that travel time is not too much

finally construction has started for the line 2.Don`t know exactly if it is soil testing or construction of pillars.but yes the work has started !!

You are thinking only for the rich people, not for the ordinary folks. If airport express gets built from say South Mumbai to CSIA, then ordinary metro line will not be built parallel to it because of obvious reasons. Airport express will be used by only handful of people who want to visit airport, while ordinary metro line will be used by even those people who do not want to visit airport but say from Colaba to Mahalaxmi.

Which does bring us to the point of which areas such a line should connect...it's obviously not sufficient to connect only South Bombay to the airport... connectivity needs to be there for all suburbs since there will be a lot more ppl from these areas than just SoBo. In Delhi's case the airport is away from the nucleus of the metro system itself, and so it made sense to make an express line from there to the airport.

Ordinary metro lines can give connectivity to CSIA from all directions. Though only South Mumbai will be connected to an airport by a direct line. People from rest of the city will have to change a train or two but changing a metro train is not a big hassle.

Ordinary metro lines can give connectivity to CSIA from all directions. Though only South Mumbai will be connected to an airport by a direct line. People from rest of the city will have to change a train or two but changing a metro train is not a big hassle.

It would be an hassle for people having luggages as the stoppage time would be less for the metro also it wouldnt be difficult for people to board a crowded metro with their luggage. Dedicated high speed connectivity would be required sooner or later.

It would be an hassle for people having luggages as the stoppage time would be less for the metro also it wouldnt be difficult for people to board a crowded metro with their luggage. Dedicated high speed connectivity would be required sooner or later.

I am quoting one of my previous post again

You are thinking only for the rich people, not for the ordinary folks. If airport express gets built from say South Mumbai to CSIA, then ordinary metro line will not be built parallel to it because of obvious reasons. Airport express will be used by only handful of people who want to visit airport, while ordinary metro line will be used by even those people who do not want to visit airport but say from Colaba to Mahalaxmi.

Airport express have many times more expensive tickets and are used by only a small fraction of people. For eg, Delhi's 23 km airport express will attract 20,000 people per day while an ordinary line with same length attract more than 2,00,000 people per day.

If airport express gets built, it would mean sacrificing an ordinary metro line on that route as you cannot have competition between 2 metros on similar route, esp. when pvt money is involved. Only few people will gain from that decision but there would be many who will lose. The above numbers explain why.

abhi have a look at the map

that area your talking most places will be within 1km(12min walking distance) from either a suburban or railway station.

They really dont need another metro line.

To be blunt, I am dead against constructing a line from airport to BKC to Colaba. Clearly money can be spent elsewhere.

As the time proceeds BKC will be the premium business hub of the city and is about 3-4 km from the airport. You dont need this line.


Maybe a better allocation of funds might be to build a line from Borivali to Thane/Mulund(yes am i biased on this) to provide further east west connectivity.

or you can build another metroline from Vikroli to Jogeshwari

That was just an example. Main point was that when you have an airport bang in the middle of the city, then ordinary metro line will be much better than airport express. AExp suits those cities more where airport is far outside the city, such as Blr or Hyd.

That was just an example. Main point was that when you have an airport bang in the middle of the city, then ordinary metro line will be much better than airport express. AExp suits those cities more where airport is far outside the city, such as Blr or Hyd.

you dont need a metro line there.

however, in its defence, Colaba to mumbai airport distance is actually more by road than CP in Delhi to Delhi airport.

However in case of Delhi an airport express makes sense cause you have one huge airport which will be able to handle the traffic well into the future (2050)(i believe its built on 4500 acres giving it space to add a fourth and fifth runway in the future)

In case of mumbai this airport is going to reach max capacity soon. Another airport will have to built sooner or later somewhere. If its panvel or Kalyan its going to be atleast 35 km plus from the current airport. So it makes sense to have a high speed rail link between both the airports and spend money there so people can take connecting flights which are bound by short duration of time like 1 hour.


Spending all that money for the current airport and then further spending money for a high speed link from the navi mumbai/ka;yan airport is just too wasteful

It would be an hassle for people having luggages as the stoppage time would be less for the metro also it wouldnt be difficult for people to board a crowded metro with their luggage. Dedicated high speed connectivity would be required sooner or later.

Honestly, if you have a lot of luggage, find another way. I'd imagine the regular business traveler usually just has a carry on.

Hey Ichi, I am back with my weapons, my maps :lol:. I guess it will help in explaining the issue better than just discussing. (If you feel this method of explanation is boring then tell me, I will try something other next time).

Now I would like to explain why we may not need an airport express in Mumbai with the help of the following 3 examples.

(1) Take the example of say Bangalore. (Please ignore if I make some mistakes, I am not that much aware of Bangalore).

Its airport is situated far outside the city. There is only 1 major road to connect the airport to the city (NH-7, I guess). So all people coming from whichever part of the city converge at NH-7 at or before Hebbal (north Bangalore).

From Hebbal, everybody moves in same direction on the same road. If you build an airport express on this route (NH-7), then you will tap all the people travelling to the airport as there are no other alternative routes to reach airport. If you build a station in the city centre, then it will cater to people from central, west, south and east B'lore. And a station at Hebbal will cater to north B'lore. Hence with one line you tap all the demand.

See the figure below. Metro line is red in colour, people's actual movement in black. Blue colour shows such travels are not possible (either because there is no alternative road from B'lore to airport or people do not visit airport from other sides).

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/4763/61861513.jpg


(2) Second example is Delhi.

See the airport line in red and ring road in blue. People from north, central, east (+ Ghaziabad) and south-east (+ Noida) can collect at central Delhi by using different metro lines and then continue their journey by airport express.

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8818/delhimap.jpg

People from north-west and parts of south (+ Faridabad) will reach ring road first and travel along it to reach Dhaula Kuan (DK) station on ring road and then board airport express to continue their journey.

Only those who will come from west Delhi, extreme south Delhi or south-west Delhi (+ Gurgaon) will not use airport express. Direct road journey will be much shorter for them.

So airport express in Delhi taps most of the demand but not all.


(3) Last example is Mumbai. Since the airport in the geographical centre of the city, people will come from all directions to this airport. Roughly, we can say there are 3 major directions - south, north-west (western suburbs), and north-east (eastern suburbs, Thane, Kalyan etc).

So you need 3 airport expresses here since all these 3 directions will give almost equal demand (or at least in future). Since the traffic gets divided over 3 lines, none of them will remain viable.

That's why airport express will not be suitable for CSIA, hence not planned IMO. However if Navi Mumbai airport gets built, then its location will be similar to that of IGI in Delhi, making airport express more viable.

Hence the airport express is best suited when airport is quite outside the city and least suited when it is quite within the city. Now I am answering the questions in particular.

however, in its defence, Colaba to mumbai airport distance is actually more by road than CP in Delhi to Delhi airport.

Yep. But the catchment area of CSIA-Colaba line is only the area lying along it, while the catchment area of CP-IGI is area much beyond CP. As I have shown in the Delhi map, lot of people will gather from beyond CP and collect there and then proceed to IGI. That thing is not possible in South Mumbai since there is nothing beyond Colaba but only sea.

Also I guess more people live in western and eastern suburbs than SoBo, so there are more people coming from these regions with potential to increase even further as Mumbai will expand on both these sides. In case of business visitors coming from outside, they will visit SoBo but with emergence of new office complexes in other parts of Mumbai, share of SoBo will plunge further.

However in case of Delhi an airport express makes sense cause you have one huge airport which will be able to handle the traffic well into the future (2050)(i believe its built on 4500 acres giving it space to add a fourth and fifth runway in the future)

Valid points. Not only it is big but also many people come from one particular direction making airport express more viable.

In case of mumbai this airport is going to reach max capacity soon. Another airport will have to built sooner or later somewhere. If its panvel or Kalyan its going to be atleast 35 km plus from the current airport. So it makes sense to have a high speed rail link between both the airports and spend money there so people can take connecting flights which are bound by short duration of time like 1 hour.

Again very valid points. Ichi samajhdar ho gaya ;)

I think your missing the point of usage of this link.

This is an attempt to connect the central business districts of Mumbai together with the airport

So the aim of this express link to for the business travellers who mostly travel light (unless they go on a shopping binge which many do, but while going back might be an issue) to use so that they can get to BKC-Worli/Parel-Fort/Nariman Point-Colaba with ease.

I dont think the intention of this line will be to run it at 135km per hour like delhi. More like 70-80km per hour operational speed with 5/6 stops (as mentioned above) along a 25km route.

To make it clear this line was never going to be for the aam air traveller the bulk of whom mostly lives in the burbs rather the foreign businessmen who want to get to their hotels and all within minutes from the airport.

All i am saying is that Mumbai does not have the money for all that right now. If we are to build a high speed link, let it be between the two airports.

I dont think the intention of this line will be to run it at 135km per hour like delhi. More like 70-80km per hour operational speed with 5/6 stops (as mentioned above) along a 25km route.

It will become more like an ordinary metro line than an airport express. Why not add a few more station then ;)

To make it clear this line was never going to be for the aam air traveller the bulk of whom mostly lives in the burbs rather the foreign businessmen who want to get to their hotels and all within minutes from the airport.

Yes, that's why I said aam aadmi will lose a lot if it is a dedicated airport link (with expensive tickets). You cannot have a parallel metro line for aam junta with airport express. They will have to continue suffering in suburban then because few rich people (airport travellers) denied their right to travel in a metro line.

It will become more like an ordinary metro line than an airport express. Why not add a few more station then ;)



Yes, that's why I said aam aadmi will lose a lot if it is a dedicated airport link (with expensive tickets). You cannot have a parallel metro line for aam junta with airport express. They will have to continue suffering in suburban then because few rich people (airport travellers) denied their right to travel in a metro line.


well i dont think aam aadmi will lose much or gain

cause Colaba to Bandra line will cover all the parts this route would have covered in sobo.

while Dahisar- Bandra -Mankhurd will cover the BKC areas in more detail (ie many stops in BKC unlike the 1-2 stops likely with this north south line)

All somebody will have to do is change trains at Bandra. Nothing more and nothing less...

My entire argument is based on unnecessary money spent rather than use as a metro line. I would not want a metro line along this route anyway even if they decide to have a metro link.

i wonder how long they will keep the plastic covers on. the average indian car buyer keeps it on for at least a year doesnt he? maybe cut holes for the doors, but thats it

^^lol HA HA HA HA HA HA HA :lol:

If we are to build a high speed link, let it be between the two airports.



It doesn't make sense to connect 2 international airports with a metro express line. When NMIA opens, someone who flies into CSIA will connect within CSIA. Someone who flies into NMIA would connect within NMIA.

There is no need to have a Metro Express link to link the 2 airports because fliers will not be shuttling between the 2 airports.

Fliers will be shuttling from the dense residential areas (usually the city center) to the airport.

pls add latest pic on development of 1 st metro line

Citizens protest Metro work on Bandra road

Ashley D’Mello | TNN


Mumbai: Citizens’ groups in the suburbs are furious that the MMRDA is continuing with their works on Linking Road in Bandra (West) for the second phase of Metro rail even when the Bombay high court is likely to hear a PIL on the issue.
The groups want an alternative route to the elevated plan of Metro Phase II, which is being planned from Charkop to Bandra to Mankhurd. The residents demand that from Andheri to Bandra, the route should be underground.
In a letter to chief minister Ashok Chavan the citizens groups have asked how could theMMRDA start the work when the matter was subjudice.
Aftab Siddique from 33
Road, Khar ALM, whose petition seeking an alternatibe route for the Metro has been turned into a PIL by the Bombay high court last month, said, “The MMRDA did not think it necessary to listen to the pleas of citizens and moreover, it does not seem to be even accountable to the courts of the land.’’ He added that the route along Linking Road would also dislocate more than 1,000 slum families in the west of the Bandra station. Bandra councillor Rehbar Khan had even taken a petition to the chief minister, telling him about how the elevated route would affect the livelihood of the people in the area.
MMRDA officials said they were conducting initial soil tests. The contract for the route has already been awarded to a consortium led by Reliance Infrastructure.
The citizens’ groups now plan a meeting at the administrative and political level.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2010/04/24&PageLabel=6&EntityId=Ar00607&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Woow ... I didnt know it is called Reliance Metro !!!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331284d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-badge.jpg

Free advertising for them

It doesn't make sense to connect 2 international airports with a metro express line. When NMIA opens, someone who flies into CSIA will connect within CSIA. Someone who flies into NMIA would connect within NMIA.

There is no need to have a Metro Express link to link the 2 airports because fliers will not be shuttling between the 2 airports.

Fliers will be shuttling from the dense residential areas (usually the city center) to the airport.

well thats an ideal scenario.

Say you live in Surat (for example)

lets for assumptions say the only airline that goes to Mumbai from your airport is XYZ airways.

But they only operate at Navi Mumbai airport.

Now you are at Surat and have to goto South Africa which Jet airways operates from CSIA, So you chose the route

Surat---XYZ airlines to NMIA-----high speed link----Jet ariways to South Africa


As the Indian pop who uses the airports to travel locally or internationally you cant say for sure that people will just use the flights within the airport.

You are also assuming that other airports cover the same destinations. which i dont think will be the case. Say Mexico city will be covered by NMIA while not covered by CSIA

there are also other scenarios


say you find the cheapest way to fly from Surat to Mumbai is an airline which operates out of CSIA , then you find that the cheapest way to fly to NYC is an airline which operates out of NMIA. So you end up changing airports.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331284d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-badge.jpg

Good to see some creativity on a rather plain jane stainless Steel coach. :)

well thats an ideal scenario.

Say you live in Surat (for example)

lets for assumptions say the only airline that goes to Mumbai from your airport is XYZ airways.

But they only operate at Navi Mumbai airport.

Now you are at Surat and have to goto South Africa which Jet airways operates from CSIA, So you chose the route

Surat---XYZ airlines to NMIA-----high speed link----Jet ariways to South Africa


As the Indian pop who uses the airports to travel locally or internationally you cant say for sure that people will just use the flights within the airport.

You are also assuming that other airports cover the same destinations. which i dont think will be the case. Say Mexico city will be covered by NMIA while not covered by CSIA

there are also other scenarios


say you find the cheapest way to fly from Surat to Mumbai is an airline which operates out of CSIA , then you find that the cheapest way to fly to NYC is an airline which operates out of NMIA. So you end up changing airports.



Yeah but the people shuttling between airports would be a LOT less than people shuttling between the city center and the airport.

Thousands of people fly out of Mumbai everyday, but very few people would be changing from NMIA to CSIA, so it would be pointless to make a high-speed metro express line just for the small number of people who would be shuttling between airports compared to the large number of people going from the city center to the airport.

Also, because Mumbai and Navi Mumbai such a big cities, most domestic airlines would fly to both airports. Look at NY JFK and LGA...very very very few people change between the 2 airports.

It doesn't make sense to spend millions of dollars building a high-speed metro express line for a small number of people who would change airports. Also, none of these people would be from Mumbai. It makes more sense to build a rail line from city center to the airport to serve the huge number of Mumbaikars who would be flying.


say you find the cheapest way to fly from Surat to Mumbai is an airline which operates out of CSIA , then you find that the cheapest way to fly to NYC is an airline which operates out of NMIA. So you end up changing airports.

Most people who are rich enough to fly would just pay a little extra to fly into NMIA in this case. Also, costly high-speed rail tickets and the extra inconvenience would end up dissuading cheap people from using the rail line.

Yeah but the people shuttling between airports would be a LOT less than people shuttling between the city center and the airport.

yeah but the entire point is time constraint. Clearly if you have to catch a connecting flight, time is the biggest issue.

Thousands of people fly out of Mumbai everyday, but very few people would be changing from NMIA to CSIA, so it would be pointless to make a high-speed metro express line just for the small number of people who would be shuttling between airports compared to the large number of people going from the city center to the airport.

see point above. Plus i think it will be sizeable. By no means small as passenger number are set to explode in the next decade.

Also, because Mumbai and Navi Mumbai such a big cities, most domestic airlines would fly to both airports. Look at NY JFK and LGA...very very very few people change between the 2 airports.

That will be the case for big cities like London and NYC or Dubai, Singapore.But other destinations in Africa, South america or even parts of Canada. Its also news to me that people dont take connecting flights. Many times you want to fly by a certain airline on a certain date and the aircraft is full. So your forced to take an airline from a different airport. Many routes are fully booked well in advance.

It doesn't make sense to spend millions of dollars building a high-speed metro express line for a small number of people who would change airports. Also, none of these people would be from Mumbai. It makes more sense to build a rail line from city center to the airport to serve the huge number of Mumbaikars who would be flying.

well in that case dont you think its better to have a line for the western suburbs considering its the most populated part of Mumbai? also you can also have a few stops on the line between the two airports or even build a normal metroline there. not saying it has to be really express pace just somehting travelling at 70-80km per hour.

Most people who are rich enough to fly would just pay a little extra to fly into NMIA in this case. Also, costly high-speed rail tickets and the extra inconvenience would end up dissuading cheap people from using the rail line.


you can save 1000s on your ticket. The prices between airline do vary a lot from Rs1000-Rs1500 domestic to Rs5000-Rs7000 international. In comparison spending a few hundred on a high speed link to find the airport which provides the cheapest solution makes economic sense to me. On top of which the days of only the rich flying are over. Middle class Indians today certainly are flying more in greater numbers. If a family of 4 is flying then clearly the even a Rs500 difference in the ticket prices adds up

It doesn't make sense to connect 2 international airports with a metro express line. When NMIA opens, someone who flies into CSIA will connect within CSIA. Someone who flies into NMIA would connect within NMIA.

There is no need to have a Metro Express link to link the 2 airports because fliers will not be shuttling between the 2 airports.

Fliers will be shuttling from the dense residential areas (usually the city center) to the airport.

It definitely makes sense. As Ichi has already explained well, there are some other advantages. Since all flights to a particular city may not operate from a single airport, so the frequency of flights to a particular city gets divided, which means you have half options now if you choose any particular airport, which also means waiting more for connecting flights.

But if you do not want to wait much for your connecting flight, then you have an option of shuttling between the two airports and book the earlier flight instead of waiting for next flight at the same airport.

No it does not make sense. There are soo many cities in the world which have a metro express line connecting the city center and the airport(Heathrow, Hong Kong, etc.). How many cities in the world have a metro express line connecting one airport with another?

Low cost airlines (there are around 6 of them) will be flying to both airports, so if 1 low-cost airline doesn't fly from say Surat to NMIA, another one surely will.

yeah but the entire point is time constraint. Clearly if you have to catch a connecting flight, time is the biggest issue.

If entire point is time constraints, then why would anyone want to leave the airport, wait for a train, take luggage onto the train, take luggage off the train, find the airport terminal, check baggage in, again go through security, etc.

People would just connect within the airport because of time constraints!




That will be the case for big cities like London and NYC or Dubai, Singapore.But other destinations in Africa, South america or even parts of Canada. Its also news to me that people dont take connecting flights. Many times you want to fly by a certain airline on a certain date and the aircraft is full. So your forced to take an airline from a different airport. Many routes are fully booked well in advance.

People who connect within an airport vastly outnumber the people who connect between airports. No one has time for that. If someone wanted to fly to Africa, etc, they would just fly into the airport which has flights to South America. There are so many cheap airlines in India, I'm sure they could get a cheap flight.


you can save 1000s on your ticket. The prices between airline do vary a lot from Rs1000-Rs1500 domestic to Rs5000-Rs7000 international. In comparison spending a few hundred on a high speed link to find the airport which provides the cheapest solution makes economic sense to me. On top of which the days of only the rich flying are over. Middle class Indians today certainly are flying more in greater numbers. If a family of 4 is flying then clearly the even a Rs500 difference in the ticket prices adds up

you are assuming that domestic low-cost airlines won't fly to both airports. It's a bad assumption because 1- there are a lot of big low cost airlines 2- Navi Mumbai and Mumbai are both big cities, so it would make sense for them to fly to both airports. 3- say if Indigo didn't fly from Surat-NMIA then maybe Spicejet or Go Air or Kingfisher Red or Jetlite would.

Plus why would we spend millions of dollars building a rail line just for outsiders connecting between airports? We should spend the millions on something to serve Mumbaikars.

It definitely makes sense. As Ichi has already explained well, there are some other advantages. Since all flights to a particular city may not operate from a single airport, so the frequency of flights to a particular city gets divided, which means you have half options now if you choose any particular airport, which also means waiting more for connecting flights.

But if you do not want to wait much for your connecting flight, then you have an option of shuttling between the two airports and book the earlier flight instead of waiting for next flight at the same airport.

How many people do you think will move from Airport 1 to Airport 2- some 30 kms away ?

well lets leave this discussion cause I think we are drifting off topic, ~I do have answers to your point, but dont want to continue in this thread

If entire point is time constraints, then why would anyone want to leave the airport, wait for a train, take luggage onto the train, take luggage off the train, find the airport terminal, check baggage in, again go through security, etc.

People would just connect within the airport because of time constraints!


People who connect within an airport vastly outnumber the people who connect between airports. No one has time for that. If someone wanted to fly to Africa, etc, they would just fly into the airport which has flights to South America. There are so many cheap airlines in India, I'm sure they could get a cheap flight.




you are assuming that domestic low-cost airlines won't fly to both airports. It's a bad assumption because 1- there are a lot of big low cost airlines 2- Navi Mumbai and Mumbai are both big cities, so it would make sense for them to fly to both airports. 3- say if Indigo didn't fly from Surat-NMIA then maybe Spicejet or Go Air or Kingfisher Red or Jetlite would.

Plus why would we spend millions of dollars building a rail line just for outsiders connecting between airports? We should spend the millions on something to serve Mumbaikars.

+1. My thoughts exactly.

well lets leave this discussion cause I think we are drifting off topic, ~I do have answers to your point, but dont want to continue in this thread

+1. I can answer the questions but that would continue derailing the thread. Maybe chaibar ??

Lo, gayi bhains paani mein!

I think we can safely say say 2020 for Metro II now



Citizens protest Metro work on Bandra road

Ashley D’Mello | TNN


Mumbai: Citizens’ groups in the suburbs are furious that the MMRDA is continuing with their works on Linking Road in Bandra (West) for the second phase of Metro rail even when the Bombay high court is likely to hear a PIL on the issue.
The groups want an alternative route to the elevated plan of Metro Phase II, which is being planned from Charkop to Bandra to Mankhurd. The residents demand that from Andheri to Bandra, the route should be underground.
In a letter to chief minister Ashok Chavan the citizens groups have asked how could theMMRDA start the work when the matter was subjudice.
Aftab Siddique from 33
Road, Khar ALM, whose petition seeking an alternatibe route for the Metro has been turned into a PIL by the Bombay high court last month, said, “The MMRDA did not think it necessary to listen to the pleas of citizens and moreover, it does not seem to be even accountable to the courts of the land.’’ He added that the route along Linking Road would also dislocate more than 1,000 slum families in the west of the Bandra station. Bandra councillor Rehbar Khan had even taken a petition to the chief minister, telling him about how the elevated route would affect the livelihood of the people in the area.
MMRDA officials said they were conducting initial soil tests. The contract for the route has already been awarded to a consortium led by Reliance Infrastructure.
The citizens’ groups now plan a meeting at the administrative and political level.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2010/04/24&PageLabel=6&EntityId=Ar00607&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/commercial-vehicles-india/331284d1271486553t-mumbai-metro-rail-scoop-pics-mumbai-metro-badge.jpg

regardless of the debate re the probity of plastering reliance metro on the coaches, does anyone want to indulge in the semiotics of the logo.

if one were inclined one could think of the sw petal as bombay island, nw as the western burbs, ne as the eastern burbs and se as new bombay. then the lines through the petals become interesting.

maybe its just me and i have been staring at the monitor for too long.

regardless of the debate re the probity of plastering reliance metro on the coaches, does anyone want to indulge in the semiotics of the logo.

if one were inclined one could think of the sw petal as bombay island, nw as the western burbs, ne as the eastern burbs and se as new bombay. then the lines through the petals become interesting.

maybe its just me and i have been staring at the monitor for too long.

What a "Beautiful mind " :)

Lo, gayi bhains paani mein!

I think we can safely say say 2020 for Metro II now

they will want to push it underground

nobody wants the inconvenience....

no doubt MMDRA are not exactly great at planning....

What a "Beautiful mind " :)

ha ha. thanks

i thought the lines on the logo could be thought of as the metro lines that reliance wants to build. which would be interesting.

fwiw, mumbaimetro1 does not have this on their website. no photos, nothing in the update section. it is really barren. at least the bwsl site had monthly updates.

:cheers:Lo, gayi bhains paani mein!

I think we can safely say say 2020 for Metro II now

yes , very nice and I reckon we can expect these Bandra elites to pay the extra 300 crore per Km from their own pocket.

regardless, I don't think this makes much of a difference as even if they take their pathatic little case to court , the pettition will most likely be trashed in the greater intrest of public inconvenience, as has been done before.

Yup...let's see who is still protesting when we ask all these Bandra protesters to pay for the extra underground cost...they'll all shut their mouths and move on.

From the Mumbai mirror (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20100426201004260417196155c5c33b6/Metro-station-to-remind-you-of-BandraWorli-Sea-Link.html), a night render of the WEH station:

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4696/c082.jpg

You can also see part of the cable stayed bridge that will cross the Jog flyover.

A snippet on the Ghatkopar station:

Construction of the Ghatkopar station will be completed first, within the next few months.

It will have two levels – a concourse that will have an automatic fare collection system and a platform level. The stations will be centrally air-conditioned. Commuters will have to pass through the concourse level to get access to the platform level to board the metro train. All stations will be equipped with elevators for easy access, especially for the physically challenged. Coaches will even have a reserved area for the disabled.

um... have we learned nothing from the construction of mm1? there are so many congested spots and the route comes so close to peoples homes. why would you make the same mistake twice?

@IU, I would completely forgive them if they actually make the station into this shopping complex with a cable stayed bridge and flashy lights at the platform level.

From the TOI, a render of the Versova station -

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/6527/getimagejp.jpg

Modern stations will dot first line of Metro
Mumbai: State-of-the-art stations are springing up all along the route of the first Metro line from Versova to Ghatkopar. There will be 12 stations in all along the route, which covers a distance of 11.5 km.
“Care is being taken to ensure that all modern requirements for Metro stations are incorporated into the designs, which will bring about a paradigm shift in the way people commute in the city,’’ said additional commissioner for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), S Srinivas.
Detailing security systems, Srinivas added that the stations will have a central surveillance system, which would be connected to a control room to monitor all movement at the stations round-theclock. CCTV cameras will also be installed inside the coaches. So, security staff will immediately be alerted to any untoward incident.

“Access to the stations will be made easier by elevators, which will also be of great help to the physically-challenged,’’ added Srinivas.

According to MMRDA officials, each Metro station will have a concourse and a platform level. Automatic fare collection counters will be situated at the concourse. The new systems would also ensure no serpentine queues. Commuters would have to go through the concourse to gain access to the platform and board the Metro.

The travel time of 75 minutes from Versova to Ghatkopar would be reduced to 20 minutes once the Metro rolls out. The corridor will have 12 stations including Versova, D N Nagar, Azad Nagar, Andheri, Western Express Highway, Chakala, Airport Road, Marol Naka, Sakinaka, Subhash Nagar, Asalpha Road and Ghatkopar.


also, an image of the first metro coach being transported to the DN nagar depot -

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4830/pc0020600.jpg

The coaches,being unloaded at the port and likely to be dispatched to the car shed on Monday,will undergo range of tests on parts of the 11.4-km Metro corridor.It will be stationed at the DN Nagar depot in Versova where motormen, being recruited by the MMOPL,will be trained on simulation device shortly.Though the project has a December 2010 deadline,the bridge close to the Andheri station may delay the actual commissioning by four months.The route between DN Nagar depot and Azad Nagar near Navrang Cinema is expected to be completed first.

I hope they they keep these designs for the stations. Bangalore metro promised ultra-modern designs but is delivering ordinary designs.

It is written that Ghatkopar station will be centrally a/c. Is it for all other stations too ? For the first time I am hearing elevated a/c stations :cheers:. Will platform level be a/c or is it only concourse ?

DNA Mumbai April26.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9564/126201085011am.jpg
Copyright DNA

DNA Mumbai April 26.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3965/126201085042am.jpg
Copyright DNA Mumbai.

What are the colours given to the first and second line ?

I really hope they build according to these designs.

Indian Express April 26

Source (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/some-problems-some-plans-on-metro-railway-first-route/611313/0)

In the way : For 2 mosques and a temple, a relocation, an extension and uncertainty over a ‘pushback’
Three religious structures are in the way of the construction of the Metro rail’s 11.5-km, Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor, and the nodal agency has not yet worked out a complete solution.

For the Noori Masjid, which has stood in Andheri since the 1940s, a solution suggested is it will be pushed back by a few feet, but mosque authorities say they will not allow Metro work to start till they get a written commitment from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The Society Masjid in Andheri will be “fully affected”, meaning it will have to be razed down and relocated on a plot behind its present location.

The other religious structure, the Mohileshwar Temple at Asalpha, will be “partially affected” due to road widening; the temple will be allowed to extend its area in the space behind.

Noori Masjid general secretary Lallan Khan said, “In the (last) meeting it was decided that the masjid will be pushed back by 10-15 feet, but that was verbally. So far we’ve not got anything in writing from them despite them their assurance that documents will be sent this week,” he said, adding they will not allow work to start that until the communiqué arrives.

The delay has meant the stretch is yet to be handed over to the concessionaire. Sources said till widening of the Andheri Ghatkopar Link Road is complete, the stretch cannot be handed over as it is currently too narrow to be barricaded. A total of 1.2 km stretch, in patches, remains to be handed over to Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd.

Yet, metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad remains hopeful of completing the project by the year-end. “We’ve had meetings with all parties and they’ve agreed on what was decided. All the people and the structures affected due to the road-widening and the Metro route will be rehabilitated like we did in the case of the Santacruz Chembur Link Road.”

Asked if any official communication has been made with the Noori Masjid Trust, he said, “I will have to check if a letter has been sent. But the work will not be affected. Now they (Noori Masjid Trust) have agreed to allow us to put slabs and start the road widening work.” Some MMRDA officials conceded that they were unlikely to complete the corridor by December-end as piling work, which takes the most time, has not started on 1.2 km in patches.

The railway authorities, too, are yet to give final clearance to a crucial bridge over the Andheri railway lines. “It would go beyond the deadline by a couple of months. But we’re on time as per the concession agreement,” the official said.

It appears from the images of Versova and Chakala station that the ramps are stairs and not escalators as I expected them to be. Maybe just an assumption by the artist?

Also good to note that metro will have access for disabled folks as a world class metro rightly should!

What are the colours given to the first and second line ?

Red, white, and the third one will be blue.

tell me thats a joke right?

^well of course. The answers to such queries can easily be googled. My pet orangutan just did it and reports that the MMRDA hasn't released it.

I hope they they keep these designs for the stations. Bangalore metro promised ultra-modern designs but is delivering ordinary designs.

BMRC first released the renders and then handed the contract with simpler cost effective designs. In MM1's case, it's the other way around. The contract was first handed out (with a finalized design), construction commenced and then the renders were released. So in all likelihood there will be no major design changes.



It is written that Ghatkopar station will be centrally a/c. Is it for all other stations too ? For the first time I am hearing elevated a/c stations :cheers:. Will platform level be a/c or is it only concourse ?

If indeed there will be air conditioning at the stations, Ghatkopar won't be the only one to have it. All the stations will have similar amenities. Air conditioning will of course be only provided at the concourse level. A/Cing the platform level isn't the smartest of ideas.

A/Cing the platform level isn't the smartest of ideas.

Yeah. That will require PSDs like Dubai metro.

there wont be air conditioning at the stations. the mmrda has asked reliance to design well-ventilated stations with sufficient flow of air. i think i read this in the papers this month

^^ me too....read i think on this thread...some time back....

there wont be air conditioning at the stations. the mmrda has asked reliance to design well-ventilated stations with sufficient flow of air. i think i read this in the papers this month

If I'm not mistaken , this was said w.r.t the Monorail stations. Not sure if the same directive was applied to Metro as well.

:cheers:

yes , very nice and I reckon we can expect these Bandra elites to pay the extra 300 crore per Km from their own pocket.

regardless, I don't think this makes much of a difference as even if they take their pathatic little case to court , the pettition will most likely be trashed in the greater intrest of public inconvenience, as has been done before.

I don't see why it shouldn't be underground. Yes, it is a high cost but it is one Mumbai/India needs to make. Even though I stay at South Bombay, I would argue that Bandra/Andheri need it much much more. The roads once you go ahead of Shivaji Park/Mahim are tiny as it is so I don't see why the subway shouldn't be underground. Looking at history, even NY had to change its subways to make them underground. So why are we making the same mistakes now? I'm sure the 300 cr/km will turn out cheaper than potentially making the same lines underground in a matter of 15-20 years.

nice posting on metro stations

or even the cost of relocations, digging and shifting of utilities, cost over-runs due to problems with structures and court battles, increased road congestion and noise pollution affecting local land pricing and business activity, etc etc

^^

exactly :)

and i somehow dont trust the cost figures for u/g that are always released by mmrda. its way more than the costs quoted for delhi or bangalore or even internationally. i smell something fishy here

and i somehow dont trust the cost figures for u/g that are always released by mmrda. its way more than the costs quoted for delhi or bangalore or even internationally. i smell something fishy here

What was the cost quoted for u/g and elevated here ? I guess it was 450 and 200 cr/km ?

at various times i have read anywhere between 150-250 for elevated and 400-650 for u/g

If it is above 450, it seems to be fishy as you said. For Bangalore also, the cost are somewhere below this mark, IMO.

I now remember reading that cost of 32 km all-elevated line-2 was 10,000 crore, which means more than 300 crore/km for elevated line. So, there is something wrong.

the cost for an all u/g bandra-colaba is quoted as 12,000 cr (20 km). for a half-half they say it will be 9,000 cr

the cost for u/g is always taken as 2-3 times of elevated, which doesnt seem right. i wonder if the cost only includes the core metro construction and not the costs of relocation, etc as pointed above

I don't think that usually includes cost of relocation. Most of the times, they announce the cost before the start of the project and only during midway, a relocation crisis arises out of nowhere, and which is expected to be handled by govt instead of metro. So I guess they talk about only civil and electrical costs.

600 crore/km for u/g line is way too expensive and I don't think Mumbai has hard rock like Bangalore which makes tunneling difficult.

underground requires a heavy maintainence such as 24 hrs power for light n aircondition.
plus needs deep drains below the tunnel 2 survive mumbai rains

elevated dosent need light nor aircondition on the upper deck
it saves a lot of money, it runs smooth in rains too

In ppp bidders dont come up for undergroung.
as far i know no1 came 2 bid for colaba bandra totally ug hence they changed the design to partly ug partly elevated still no1 bidded as its not worth the investment .

UIR7PABIza0

I see a lot of new forumers here. Cool. People are becoming more aware now.

:cheers:

yes , very nice and I reckon we can expect these Bandra elites to pay the extra 300 crore per Km from their own pocket.

regardless, I don't think this makes much of a difference as even if they take their pathatic little case to court , the pettition will most likely be trashed in the greater intrest of public inconvenience, as has been done before.


The normal middle / upper middle class all along western suburbs will be affected more than the elites of Bandra during construction. I am sure that the construction will take atleast 5 years.

Most of the times, they announce the cost before the start of the project and only during midway, a relocation crisis arises out of nowhere, and which is expected to be handled by govt instead of metro.

Not true. The project consultants who draw the road map of projects and assist in finalizing the final route take land acquisition and (known) utility shifting into consideration while coming up with their project reports.

SJBcNmFTW8Q


Metro coaches are being manufactured in Malaysia????

I think she confused Monorail (made in Malaysia) with Metro (made in China)

SJBcNmFTW8Q


Metro coaches are being manufactured in Malaysia????

these reporters are morons, how can they not verify facts before airing somthing on national TV.

MMRDA is planning for test run VAG carridore on 15th August. But so far railway over bridge at Andheri has not got approval from railway authorities. Railway will need more than one megablocks for construction of the proposed cable stayed bridge. Let us see what happens.

Not true. The project consultants who draw the road map of projects and assist in finalizing the final route take land acquisition and (known) utility shifting into consideration while coming up with their project reports.

By relocation crisis I meant that consultants take relocation into consideration and calculate costs with some assumptions. But some groups may create trouble when the project is in full swing which means increase in relocation costs including delays which further increase project cost.

I wrongly mentioned "cost of relocation" is first post. I should have mentioned "actual cost of relocation" there to differentiate it from the initially pegged cost.

BMC, MMRDA lock horns over Metro
TIMES NEWS NETWORK April 29


Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday decided to ask MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad to explain the “arbitrary’’ use of municipal land for constructing the Metro route.

The issue came up while corporators of the improvements’ committee were discussing the proposal to create commercial saleable area of 4,000 sq metre at each of 27 Metro stations on the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route.
“If MMRDA is paying the railways crores of rupees for constructing overbridges for the Metro route, why can’t they pay the BMC for using its roads?’’ said improvements’ committee chairman Manoj Kotak.

The panel had earlier this year demanded from MMRDA, 50% proceeds of the commercial development at Metro stations as the route occupies space above roads.
The BMC and the MMRDA, the former controlled by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine and the latter by the DF coalition, have been at loggerheads over several issues in the past.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has plans to develop 1,08,000 sq m of commercial space, including malls, shops and offices, at 27 Metro stations on the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route.
On the proposed 32-km route, each station will have commercial saleable area of 4,000 sq m, which will be leased out to interested parties for a period of around 30 years.

BMC, MMRDA lock horns over Metro
TIMES NEWS NETWORK April 29


“If MMRDA is paying the railways crores of rupees for constructing overbridges for the Metro route, why can’t they pay the BMC for using its roads?’’ said improvements’ committee chairman Manoj Kotak.




Have these idiots forgotten that neither agency owns the roads. The roads are owned by the people of India and these idiots are supposed to be public servants of the people of India!

Have these idiots forgotten that neither agency owns the roads. The roads are owned by the people of India and these idiots are supposed to be public servants of the people of India!


It's time we stop political parties to control municipal and public works bodies...parties use these bodies for their own interest all the time.

@niknak: So legally, does BMC not own the roads? Is their mandate limited to construction and maintainance and not ownership? Also, shouldn't MMRDA pay someone for use of what is essentially public property?

its using it for providing public transportation and the mmrda is a public agency itself, the money they earn goes back into the mmr region. i dont know why the railways are charging mmrda either. but then railways has never been interested in anything but themselves

It's time we stop political parties to control municipal and public works bodies...parties use these bodies for their own interest all the time.

@niknak: So legally, does BMC not own the roads? Is their mandate limited to construction and maintainance and not ownership? Also, shouldn't MMRDA pay someone for use of what is essentially public property?


Neither BMC nor MMRDA are companies. They are both public agencies working for the good of Mumbai. Why does MMRDA need to pay BMC for use of roads? Both are government agencies and the roads are public property

but then railways has never been interested in anything but themselves

I wish they were interested in at least themselves. They have left their own organization to rot.

Neither BMC nor MMRDA are companies. They are both public agencies working for the good of Mumbai. Why does MMRDA need to pay BMC for use of roads? Both are government agencies and the roads are public property

because from what I know the BMC budget is not enough for them to maintain the roads.They are currently strapped of funds cause most of their money goes in replacing the water pipes.


not saying somebody wont eat money in this transaction. But a solution might be to increase the funds of the BMC.


All this points to is there are just too many agencies in MMR. Would love it if everything from the railways to everything came under one super agency

WHY RAILWAYS ARE DEMANDING MONEY FROM MMR WHILE THEY R NOT CAUSING ANY KNID OF HINDRANCE IN ITS OPERATION

MMRDA again wants to have malls and commercial space in metro stations.some people can never follow the rules or orders given to them.the proposal for malls was stayed by a high court order.

if they wont be able to exploit it commerically then metro line one is disaster in terms od money making for reliance.

OWSv0SOPloM

I wonder why they still show pics of Delhi metro trains instead of Mumbai metro trains which have already arrived.

Reporter said that trains will run at speed of 100 km/hr between Versova and DN Nagar during test run. I don't think that speed is achievable with average gap of 1 km between stations. After that he said that the ausatan raftaar (average speed) will be 80-100 km/hr. wtf :bash:

Anybody knows what will be the operational speed of this line ?

One day we had a discussion whether this line is made for 4 car trains or 6 car trains. That doubt gets cleared in this video. It is designed for 6 car trains.

^^

As per the advertisement on the barricades, 11.5 km will be covered in 21 mins. approx 32 km /hr

^^

As per the advertisement on the barricades, 11.5 km will be covered in 21 mins. approx 32 km /hr

I was asking about the operational speed, that is at what top speed it will run between 2 stations. Is it 100 km/hr as the reporter mentioned ?

Hindi news channel reports need not be taken seriously.

High time the Mumbai Metro One site http://www.mumbaimetro1.com gets updated with latest info and pictures. :bash:

Any chances of pictures of the metro coach interiors?? Would be good to see the seating arrangements and materials used in the interior decor.

Any chances of pictures of the metro coach interiors?? Would be good to see the seating arrangements and materials used in the interior decor.

Coaches have longitudinal arrangement of seats (like Delhi metro) and the interiors are also similar to Delhi metro. You may see the videos of rolling stock posted few pages back.

High time the Mumbai Metro One site http://www.mumbaimetro1.com gets updated with latest info and pictures. :bash:


Yeah, they're still using Los Angeles LRT metro rolling stock on the main banner :lol:

http://www.domain-b.com/economy/infrastructure/20100430_metro_systems.html


Mumbai commuters will soon have to their benefit a seamless travel system.

In a significant move to set an integrated ticketing system in motion, the Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA) has been holding discussions with civic bodies such as Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Transport (KDMT), Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT), Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) and mass transport agencies like BEST and the suburban railways of Western and Central Railways to have an integrated travel system across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

All the civic bodies have shown keen interest in the concept of streamlining the mass transport services to facilitate an easy access to the commuters with the help of a single swipe card.

To begin with, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regionalo Development Authority (MMRDA), which is the technical secretariat to UMMTA, has initiated a dialogue with Cubic Transportation System, an international provider of integrated ticketing services, to implement an integrated ticketing systems for the metro and mono rail, which will commence operations from this year.

MMRDA says players will be approached if required.

''Integrated ticketing system is a step in the right direction as they will not only strengthen the existing systems but will also go a long way in providing that much needed accessibility across transportation systems.'' said Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Integrated ticketing system once implemented will pave way for an effective transport network, where the same ticket can be used to commute in a bus or rail.

In the recent past BEST had introduced Go Mumbai smart card which had integrated with Central & Western Railways for the benefit of the commuters.

@Kingfisher09
I just wrote to feedback@mumbaimetro1.com (the email listed on the website) and asked them to update their website with the latest info on Line 2(financial closure is still not complete), and status of Line 3 (bids have not yet been invited).

A bit of gandhigiri (in the form of one email from every forumer) may perhaps shake them from their apathy...or maybe not....

http://www.domain-b.com/economy/infrastructure/20100430_metro_systems.html


Mumbai commuters will soon have to their benefit a seamless travel system.

In a significant move to set an integrated ticketing system in motion, the Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA) has been holding discussions with civic bodies such as Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Transport (KDMT), Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT), Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) and mass transport agencies like BEST and the suburban railways of Western and Central Railways to have an integrated travel system across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

All the civic bodies have shown keen interest in the concept of streamlining the mass transport services to facilitate an easy access to the commuters with the help of a single swipe card.

To begin with, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regionalo Development Authority (MMRDA), which is the technical secretariat to UMMTA, has initiated a dialogue with Cubic Transportation System, an international provider of integrated ticketing services, to implement an integrated ticketing systems for the metro and mono rail, which will commence operations from this year.

MMRDA says players will be approached if required.

''Integrated ticketing system is a step in the right direction as they will not only strengthen the existing systems but will also go a long way in providing that much needed accessibility across transportation systems.'' said Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Integrated ticketing system once implemented will pave way for an effective transport network, where the same ticket can be used to commute in a bus or rail.

In the recent past BEST had introduced Go Mumbai smart card which had integrated with Central & Western Railways for the benefit of the commuters.

This is some great news and hope this idea sees the light of the day, much required. :cheers:, hope they include the planned water transport in this.

Charkop-Mankhurd metro hits a block


Environment Ministry Wants Project To Get Clearance From The State Coastal Zone Authority

Our Political Bureau MUMBAI


THIS could derail the Mumbai’s ambitious metro. The Metro II that promises to connect Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra has hit the biggest roadblock so far. The Union environment ministry has cited Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules violation to defer the project.

Being constructed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the proposed 32-km metro rail with 27 elevated stations en route will be the longest metro corridor on public-private partnership. Two maintenance depots at Charkop and Mankhurd (in an area of 19.69 hectares and 24 hectares, respectively) have been proposed at the cost of Rs 1,532 crore in the Mumbai suburbs.

However, recommending to “defer” the project, an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the environment ministry in a recent meeting has asked the MMRDA to first get a nod from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) under the CRZ notification.

Seeking a nod, the MRMDA had pleaded that the project was of public importance and would cater footfall of 12.75 lakh, 18.77 lakh and 22.16 lakh in the years 2011, 2021 and 2031.

The project proponent also pointed out that all the constructions falling in the CRZ-I were proposed on stilt level to avoid disturbance to mangroves in the area and that there was no other site available.

However, the EAC took note that the MCZMA last year had identified the project’s “proposed activities are in CRZ-I and not permissible as per CRZ, 1991,” and that its earlier reference was not provided as a clear recommendation.

“While the project proponent have presented some notable changes in the project plans as viewed from the previous position and partially in accordance with stipulations by the EAC earlier. However, the requirements under the CRZ notifications are still not met,” an official associated with the environment ministry told mediapersons in Delhi, adding, moreover there is a ban on the destruction of mangroves as per the orders of the Bombay High Court.

The ministry has also expressed concerns that a large number of piers to be constructed for the proposed elevated corridor for the metro would overshadow the entire area at the cost of mangroves. Asking it to seek permission of the Bombay HC in respect of the activities in mangrove area, besides from MCZMA, the EAC has also sought a proposal for compensatory mangrove plantation.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=ETNEW&BaseHref=ETM/2010/04/30&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T


Okay How many time have we read this and sulked....lets sulk again

^^This is awesome news... But These f**kers will never learn .still continue to plan important projects haphazardly.

the mmrda and the GoM will never change. bunch of monkeys

:ohno:

Charkop-Mankhurd metro hits a block


Environment Ministry Wants Project To Get Clearance From The State Coastal Zone Authority

Our Political Bureau MUMBAI


THIS could derail the Mumbai’s ambitious metro. The Metro II that promises to connect Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra has hit the biggest roadblock so far. The Union environment ministry has cited Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules violation to defer the project.

Being constructed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the proposed 32-km metro rail with 27 elevated stations en route will be the longest metro corridor on public-private partnership. Two maintenance depots at Charkop and Mankhurd (in an area of 19.69 hectares and 24 hectares, respectively) have been proposed at the cost of Rs 1,532 crore in the Mumbai suburbs.

However, recommending to “defer” the project, an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the environment ministry in a recent meeting has asked the MMRDA to first get a nod from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) under the CRZ notification.

Seeking a nod, the MRMDA had pleaded that the project was of public importance and would cater footfall of 12.75 lakh, 18.77 lakh and 22.16 lakh in the years 2011, 2021 and 2031.

The project proponent also pointed out that all the constructions falling in the CRZ-I were proposed on stilt level to avoid disturbance to mangroves in the area and that there was no other site available.

However, the EAC took note that the MCZMA last year had identified the project’s “proposed activities are in CRZ-I and not permissible as per CRZ, 1991,” and that its earlier reference was not provided as a clear recommendation.

“While the project proponent have presented some notable changes in the project plans as viewed from the previous position and partially in accordance with stipulations by the EAC earlier. However, the requirements under the CRZ notifications are still not met,” an official associated with the environment ministry told mediapersons in Delhi, adding, moreover there is a ban on the destruction of mangroves as per the orders of the Bombay High Court.

The ministry has also expressed concerns that a large number of piers to be constructed for the proposed elevated corridor for the metro would overshadow the entire area at the cost of mangroves. Asking it to seek permission of the Bombay HC in respect of the activities in mangrove area, besides from MCZMA, the EAC has also sought a proposal for compensatory mangrove plantation.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=ETNEW&BaseHref=ETM/2010/04/30&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T


Okay How many time have we read this and sulked....lets sulk again

How recent is this article? I didnt find this in any recent editions?

@Kingfisher09
I just wrote to feedback@mumbaimetro1.com (the email listed on the website) and asked them to update their website with the latest info on Line 2(financial closure is still not complete), and status of Line 3 (bids have not yet been invited).

A bit of gandhigiri (in the form of one email from every forumer) may perhaps shake them from their apathy...or maybe not....

I think Mumbai Metro 1 is a special purpose vehicle made to execute only line 1 and has no relation with line 2, even though the holding company is same. And why would they mention line 3 on their site ? This site is not for Mumbai metro but Mumbai metro line 1. See here (http://www.mumbaimetro1.com/HTML/aboutus.html).

I think there is no dedicated site for Mumbai metro but only some web pages in MMRDA site.

Siemens bogie facility at Aurangabad commences operations
Mumbai, 2010-Apr-28

Siemens Rolling Stock Pvt. Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Siemens Ltd. has set up India's first dedicated bogie plant at Aurangabad. Set up with an initial investment of Rs. 200 crore, the factory will provide direct employment to about 250 people and indirect employment to about 1,000 people.


In view of the fast paced growth of rail infrastructure in India, Siemens Rolling Stock Pvt. Ltd. has set up a greenfield facility for manufacturing railway bogies at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The factory will manufacture high performance and superior quality bogies for locomotives, passenger coaches, electric multiple units and metros.

Spread over an area of 15 acres, this state-of-the-art plant has been set up in technological collaboration with the Siemens AG bogie facility at Graz, Austria. With this world-class manufacturing facility, Siemens will provide the latest bogie solutions for the Indian as well Asian markets. The factory has the capacity to manufacture about 800 customized bogies per annum, with scope for expansion to suit the market requirement. The bogies manufactured with the high-end technologies and top grade steel, meet the European standards i.e. EN norms and will have a minimum codal life of 25 years and a lower life cycle cost. This factory has been designed in harmony with Siemens’ approach to incorporate eco-friendly, sustainable practices at its facilities.

Commenting on setting up of a bogie plant in India, Dr Armin Bruck, Managing Director, Siemens Ltd. said, “Our new plant at Aurangabad was envisaged, keeping in mind the tremendous growth potential of the Indian Rail infrastructure segment. India has emerged as the preferred destination for us, as we continue to build and bring technology-intensive manufacturing plants of international standards to India. This bogie factory is the first outside Europe and US, and it enables us to offer our customers localized products at highly competitive rate.”

Bogies form a part of the undercarriage of the coach and consist of a bogie frame, wheels, axles, suspension systems and brake equipment, etc. Usually two bogies are fitted to each carriage, wagon or locomotive, one at each end. They are primarily responsible for the ride quality, safety and comfort of the passengers on board.

The new facility has the required capacities and capabilities to produce high performance bogies for locomotives, passenger coaches, EMUs and metros. The range will include metro bogies with 18 tonnes axle load with speed upwards of 80 kmph, bogies for local trains with 21.5 tonne axle load with maximum speed of 130 kmph, bogies for high speed trains with a speed range of 350 kmph, high comfort bogies for passenger coaches with speed upwards of 160 kmph and high axle load locomotive bogies.

Siemens Ltd., in which Siemens AG holds 55.18% of the capital, is the flagship listed company of Siemens AG in India. Siemens in India, which comprises 19 legal entities, is a leading provider of industry and infrastructure solutions with a business volume aggregating about Rs. 12,000 crore. It operates in the core business areas of Industry, Energy and Healthcare. It has nation-wide Sales and Service network, 20 manufacturing plants, a network of around 500 channel partners and employs about 16,800 people.

^^ How is this related to Mumbai metro? Please post articles like these in either Railway projects thread or Bus/MRTS thread (if it is more about metro). Also try to mention the source of the article.

@Abhishek - I think you are right. Since Reliance was executing Phase 1 and Phase 2, I figured they would atleast want their website to be updated...Even the mmrda website is still stuck with ancient news..

However, even the mumbaimetro1 website was last updated more than a year ago....

I'm a new to SSC and find this immensely useful in keeping tabs on infrastructure projects around India!


I have a few questions regarding the metro which I could not dig up easily..Hope someone can help :)


1. Has construction on Line 2 started ? It has not achieved financial closure yet. I read some while back that they have started soil testing at various points. Can work start without financial closure ?

2. Regarding Line 3, the last I heard was that some expert study advised against commercial exploitation of underground stations..What next ? When is MMRDA issuing tenders ? Is it going to be underground from Colaba to Mahalakshmi only or be extended till Bandra ?

3. Also on Line 3? Is part of the alignment on Senapati Bapat road ?

Soil testing was being carried out in BKC AFAIK. The construction work is yet to commence. Hopefully it will start soon.

I'm a new to SSC and find this immensely useful in keeping tabs on infrastructure projects around India!


I have a few questions regarding the metro which I could not dig up easily..Hope someone can help :)


1. Has construction on Line 2 started ? It has not achieved financial closure yet. I read some while back that they have started soil testing at various points. Can work start without financial closure ?

2. Regarding Line 3, the last I heard was that some expert study advised against commercial exploitation of underground stations..What next ? When is MMRDA issuing tenders ? Is it going to be underground from Colaba to Mahalakshmi only or be extended till Bandra ?

3. Also on Line 3? Is part of the alignment on Senapati Bapat road ?

Line 3 is still a work in progress. The last we heard about it IIRC is that they have plans of extending the line to the airport. So the latest plan is
Colaba-Mahalaxmi underground, Mahalxmi-Bandra overhead and then underground till the airport.

Soil testing was being carried out in BKC AFAIK. The construction work is yet to commence. Hopefully it will start soon. They just doing the soil testing for now .They cant start the construction work till the pil thing is sorted out , probably they can uptil bandra(east).but thats it.

Line 3 is still a work in progress. The last we heard about it IIRC is that they have plans of extending the line to the airport. So the latest plan is
Colaba-Mahalaxmi underground, Mahalxmi-Bandra overhead and then underground till the airport.

Since when?

They just doing the soil testing for now .They cant start the construction work till the pil thing is sorted out , probably they can uptil bandra(east).but thats it.

Yeah. Isn't that what I said (w/o the pil issue)?

[QUOTE=bhargavsura;56276829]Since when?

Oh, I meant "work in progress" as in nothing has been finalized. Not that work was progressing on it :)

Looks like we are in for the long haul with this one :(

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_locals-take-on-mmrda-over-metro-ii_1378716

Even before the city gets its metro, a controversy has already arisen over the second route of metro. Residents of H (west) ward have objected to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) starting digging work for soil testing from Bandra junction to Santa Cruz (West) for Metro-II.

The residents are irked as the authority has undertaken the work even though the matter is sub judice in the Bombay high court.
A writ petition was filed by Anandini Thakoor, president, H (west) federation, and Aftab Siddique, chairperson, ALM 144 in Linking Road. The petition, which comes up for hearing on Friday, was filed to know why the MMRDA can’t find an alternate route for Metro-II as the current route would spoil three main arterial roads - Juhu Tara Road, Linking Road and SV Road.
“Metro-II is sub judice so who has given MMRDA the permission to do soil testing. They are supposed to file a reply in court about the Metro-II plan, which they haven’t done yet. How has MMRDA assumed that the judgment will be in their favour?” said Siddique.
Meanwhile, residents and shopkeepers have put up banners on Linking Road which read: “Is MMRDA above the law?”
“Can’t MMRDA wait for the court’s decision? Aren’t residents’ voices important? MMRDA is overruling the court by going ahead with soil testing,” said Thakoor.
Despite several attempts, PRK Murthy, chief of transport and communication division, MMRDA, couldn’t be contacted for the authority’s version on the issue.

Oh god just put it ug it'll save so much time and prob Money when you factor in costs for relocating etc

Why can't they just have the overhead metro going down Western Express Highway from Charkop to Bandra? No one can complain about it because it's on public property. Not many people along WEH so no noise complaints.

They would have to rehabilitate very few slums and maybe go underground at Andheri. It can go parallel to the fly-overs. But overall, it would be a lot easier.

It is not possible to change the alignment for metro line II.
In next phase MMRDA has plan for one line from Andheri East(from WEh station on VAG carridore) to Dahisar East. This line will be completely on western highway.

It is not possible to change the alignment for metro line II.
In next phase MMRDA has plan for one line from Andheri East(from WEh station on VAG carridore) to Dahisar East. This line will be completely on western highway.


Well why not have Dahisar-Charkop-Andheri-Bandra all on the Western Express Highway and then it goes to Mankhurd?

defeats the purpose of having the line near the intended end users innit?

certain standards should be set so that any area with a certain density and available road width should mean an u/g line

Just curious, but wanted to clarify if there are 2 cantilever spans being planned on VAG?? One at Andheri Stn. and one at WEHxAndheriKurlaRd.?? The news reports suggest that WEH will have a span, but I think I did hear stories of a span being built across Andheri Stn. too!!!

After chembur and BKC, soil testing have started on Linking road
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/d61bd8d6da.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

Just curious, but wanted to clarify if there are 2 cantilever spans being planned on VAG?? One at Andheri Stn. and one at WEHxAndheriKurlaRd.?? The news reports suggest that WEH will have a span, but I think I did hear stories of a span being built across Andheri Stn. too!!!

Yes, there will be a span across Andheri Station till almost Navrang cinema in the west. They could not widen JP road as originally planned and changed the design instead.

defeats the purpose of having the line near the intended end users innit?

certain standards should be set so that any area with a certain density and available road width should mean an u/g line

+1
for the same reason, BRTS will not be successful in WEH until east-west connectivity is improved.

@ niknak
Charkop is not on western hignway. It is in towards west side of Kandivali station. The metro line II will pass through western parts of Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon, Andheri, Vileparle, Snatakruz and Bandra. And then to Bandra east and then ahead.
The intension is to provide good mod of transportation to above mentioned to the people on the west side of WR.Because on the eastern side of WR, we have the highway from Bandra to Dahisar in Mumbai.
One simple example I can give that people from Andheri or Vileparle East have multiple options for transportation due to wide higway. But on the other hand people on Andheri/Vileparle west are more dependant on WR. They don't have any wide raod as WEH.

Well why not have Dahisar-Charkop-Andheri-Bandra all on the Western Express Highway and then it goes to Mankhurd?

Even if you want this line to be built on WEH, then also you will need another N-S line on the current alignment because that area needs 2 N-S lines and both of them can't be built on WEH.

Oh god just put it ug it'll save so much time and prob Money when you factor in costs for relocating etc

+1 :cheers:

It is more important to build metros on E-W rather than N-S metro on WEH (ofcourse Charkop- Bandra is very crucial). IMO, there wont be much traffic for public transporation along WEH, say Bandra E to Andheri E or Malad E to Santacruz E. The traffic on WEH originates from dense residential pockets in island city or western parts of western suburbs

charkop-colaba is cruicial and will have a beneficial effect everyrwhere. Population density is highest west of linking road/sv road...currently the option for folks living there is to travel east(take a bus to the nearest station e.g juhu tara road to santacruz station) and then catch the local. The proposed metro line will definitely cut down on road trips to the station and take some pressure from the super dense borivili-churchgate suburban line.

charkop-colaba is cruicial and will have a beneficial effect everyrwhere. Population density is highest west of linking road/sv road...currently the option for folks living there is to travel east(take a bus to the nearest station e.g juhu tara road to santacruz station) and then catch the local. The proposed metro line will definitely cut down on road trips to the station and take some pressure from the super dense borivili-churchgate suburban line.

True...it will also automatically reduce the pressure on the stations (& surrounding roads) as less ppl will travel to these stations via road. Stations like Andheri & Borivali require a respite from insane crowds (vehicles n ppl) currently existing there.

Also, it definitely should be u/g, at least in some stretches. Looking at the map, I believe that there is a definite need for u/g sections between Bandra and Vile Parle stations at a minimum, and perhaps if possible between Kurla & Mankhurd.

Charkop-Mankhurd metro hits a block

"Two maintenance depots at Charkop and Mankhurd (in an area of 19.69 hectares and 24 hectares, respectively) have been proposed at the cost of Rs 1,532 crore in the Mumbai suburbs."


Someone said before the reason for not being able to start service from Mankhurd to Bandra first and then extending to Charkop was that there was no provision for a depot at the Mankhurd end to service the rolling stock.The article above seems to state otherwise.

True...it will also automatically reduce the pressure on the stations (& surrounding roads) as less ppl will travel to these stations via road. Stations like Andheri & Borivali require a respite from insane crowds (vehicles n ppl) currently existing there.

Also, it definitely should be u/g, at least in some stretches. Looking at the map, I believe that there is a definite need for u/g sections between Bandra and Vile Parle stations at a minimum, and perhaps if possible between Kurla & Mankhurd.

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I am not sure how wise that decision will be, especially since building a drill-blast tunnel increases costs by atleast 3x per unit distance. Cut-n-cover , while being a cheaper option, wont be of any use, since the high building density in areas west of SV/Linking means that digging is possible only along existing road alignments, in which case either an elevated section along existing road alignments, or drill-n-blast tunneling (in any direction w/o regard to road alignments) would be the obvious choice; there has to be a compelling enough business case to justify putting in their money, effort and expertise into it (I am not even going to argue for or against increased fare since thats way too far in the future. The immediate concern will be the bid budget and VGF quotation for the company which wants to place in a rational, sensible bid). Moreover, the grade separation from elevated to u/g and back (needed if the u/g sections are only intermittent) actually increases costs even more than normal, so there goes the logic out of the window.:ohno::ohno:

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. Cut-n-cover , while being a cheaper option, wont be of any use, since the high building density in areas west of SV/Linking means that digging is possible only along existing road alignments, in which case either an elevated section along existing road alignments, or drill-n-blast tunneling (in any direction w/o regard to road alignments) would be the obvious choice; :

So, why not cut and cover along teh existing road alignements. Is it not techinically feasible due to high density? Will the digging be along the whole road or just at a single place?

cut and cover along sv road or linking road will lead to a disaster. a city shut-down and possibly riots

^^ Is it? How did the other cities manage /will manage their underground portions?

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I am not sure how wise that decision will be, especially since building a drill-blast tunnel increases costs by atleast 3x per unit distance. Cut-n-cover , while being a cheaper option, wont be of any use, since the high building density in areas west of SV/Linking means that digging is possible only along existing road alignments, in which case either an elevated section along existing road alignments, or drill-n-blast tunneling (in any direction w/o regard to road alignments) would be the obvious choice; there has to be a compelling enough business case to justify putting in their money, effort and expertise into it (I am not even going to argue for or against increased fare since thats way too far in the future. The immediate concern will be the bid budget and VGF quotation for the company which wants to place in a rational, sensible bid). Moreover, the grade separation from elevated to u/g and back (needed if the u/g sections are only intermittent) actually increases costs even more than normal, so there goes the logic out of the window.:ohno::ohno:


The issue of higher cost in an u/g section is obviously a hotly debated one and is obviously a difficult decision. What I am repeating here is essentially things you learn in a transportation design class, but worth repeating:

1. Elevated metro rails invariably will lead to issues of land acquisition and as we all know this can be a sticky issue. While the costs of acquisition itself are not nearly enough to justify dropping of an elevated option, there are a lot of indirect costs - litigations, delays. I am willing to bet that metro line 1 will take a year less than it eventually will, had acquisition problems not come into the picture. The cost of delays itself runs into hundreds of crores as you might well guess.

And these problems will be even more compounded in the 2nd line. A lot of the sections of metro line 1 between andheri and asalpha had land acquisitions done from small industries or from slums/poor folks (Bless them!) who are easier to displace. When you bring the same battle over to SV Rd, national college & JVPD, you're talking about a lot more resistance and folks with a lot more staying power.

2. Now I know some ppl may not like this pt, but there are some heritage buildings (not the VT types, but nevertheless old), and the elevated section will definitely diminish aesthetics of these areas.

For example, if you look at the elevated section of the NY subway in the outer suburbs, you will realize how ugly they look most of the time.

3. When you construct elevated section of metros you have to replace a lot of the utility services, and I am pretty sure that yours & MMRDA's figure of 3x does not take into account this. Quite often redoing utility services all along the line is a fair cost. Not to mention a number of tree being felled which I imagine is not what the city needs at this pt!

4. Noise pollution: This is something you typically only realize only after the line is built, but with lines passing so near to buildings in the crowded streets of the bandra-parla area, there is a definite menace to the lives of ppl living in those buildings, including obviously hospitals (classic example Nanavati). Don't underestimate this pt, for this is one of the reasons along with the influence of real-estate barons that brought about the retirement of the 3rd Av El. line in NY in the middle of the last century.

5. Narrow roads: If you've travelled by the roads there, many of them are narrow, crowded (officially 4 lanes, but effectively smaller than that). Placing pillars of a metro will only reduce the amt of moving space you have on these very crowded roads. I'd like to see how much road space is left along sections of metro 1 after they're done building it.

6. As far as my concerns about the eastern sections of the line are concerned, you didn't address that part - how much will a cable-stayed bridge over existing bridges cost? That needs to be factored in the Chembur-Kurla belt, and potentially other areas as well.

7. Comfort of passenger: Stations when elevated will be exposed to the elements. It's a greater discomfort for passengers, standing in the heat with the grime, dust and pollution of the traffic below adding to the misery.

8. When you are building elevated lines, there is a disruption of traffic along a large stretch of the line itself, if not all of it. In case of a metro construction, it's limited to a smaller stretch, and almost no disruption if you're going to bore a tunnel. While on face value an elevated section will cost less, you need to factor in the cost of the system as whole - there is an increase in fuel consumption cos of traffic jams, increased pollution & logistics (as an example so many buses will have to reroute)

9. This is a little whimsical on my part, but i think the impact of accidents - manmade or otherwise is worse in elevated. If due to an earthquake, engg. failure or an attack of some sort, the elevated sections might fall on the road and/or nearby buildings killing a lot more ppl than if those accidents happened on the u/g section.

All in all while u/g costs more, I think the figure of 9000 crore v/s 6100 crore seen from some sources does not take into consideration some of these factors. For e.g wht if residents decide to sue the metro authority for the amt of noise? That could prove to be counter productive. And one must ask reasons as to why a lot of the world has actually done u/g sections in the crowded parts of their cities. NY, Paris and London built u/g sections more than 100 yrs bk, when I imagine it would have been 3-4 times more costly than it is now. Technology today enables us to make these u/g sections far more cheaper than before. If you do not want to look west - look at Delhi. While a large section of it is elevated, the elevated sections run on wide roads. Road in delhi are on average wider than mumbai, and in places like Old Delhi where they are not, the line is u/g!

Pardon if I sound loquacious, but I had to get these thots out somewhere. While the immediate economic costs are more at this stage, there is a certain benefit - social or otherwise - to be had from an u/g section that you simply cant quantify, and hence can't factor into the above equation.

Further, I didn't understand y intermittent u/g & elevated will increase costs (the grade separation pt)

cut and cover along sv road or linking road will lead to a disaster. a city shut-down and possibly riots


Cut and cover will not lead to riots...you can do it in sections meaning you can close certain roads/sections at a time. And in any case, construction of pillars for the elevated section also creates big issues along those roads.

^^ Is it? How did the other cities manage /will manage their underground portions?

no idea, but sv road and linking road are vital n/s arteries with not enough space to handle a cut and cover system. in fact an elevated section will be easier than cut and cover

btw, cut and cover is indeed not suitable for any city with such high densities and esp. on arterial roads. TBM is definitely better (but expensive)...even if you build in sections, coz disruption on that section will easily be carried to the entire stretch of linking and sv roads and perhaps WEH.
nyways, we all prefer underground between bandra and andheri at least, but we know it wont happen...

altan, agree with each and every point of yours. one point though:

noise can be mitigated by installing noise barriers which I think they are doing on all lines....even without them, its lot lower than cars and suburban trains, thanks to new modern trains. it will not add noise, i take it this way - it can in fact reduce noise on roads by freeing them up of jams considerably. (obviously i dont argue this against lesser noise from u/g line)

i support u/g too not just for line 2 but for all lines. However, I have somehow convinced myself that somethin is better than nothing.

There was a study sometime back by an IIT professor, and this may already have been discussed in this topic. But it basically stated that the costing for an overhead does not taking into account the oppurtunity loss cost. Especially the one created by traffic jams and disruptions over a 3-4 year period (time it would take to create the metros) and the resultant cost to the people. It was a very good point in favour of the u/g line.

I agree with many of Altan's points but some points need to be re-looked.

3. When you construct elevated section of metros you have to replace a lot of the utility services, and I am pretty sure that yours & MMRDA's figure of 3x does not take into account this. Quite often redoing utility services all along the line is a fair cost. Not to mention a number of tree being felled which I imagine is not what the city needs at this pt!

Utility services need to shifted in underground lines also because most of the times the tunnel lies just a few metres below the surface. And trees may also be chopped for u/g lines because the roots of some trees are very wide and deep and interfere with the path of tunnels

4. Noise pollution: This is something you typically only realize only after the line is built, but with lines passing so near to buildings in the crowded streets of the bandra-parla area, there is a definite menace to the lives of ppl living in those buildings, including obviously hospitals (classic example Nanavati). Don't underestimate this pt, for this is one of the reasons along with the influence of real-estate barons that brought about the retirement of the 3rd Av El. line in NY in the middle of the last century.

Modern trains and tracks are designed to make very less noise. From my own experience living in Delhi, I can say that if you are standing below an elevated line, you cannot even hear the sound of train passing above you because of road traffic. And if you are sitting in a house along an elevated line, what you hear is just a minimal humming sound when a train passes. Most of the times it won't even catch your attention, though the noise can be a bit higher at sharp turns.

5. Narrow roads: If you've travelled by the roads there, many of them are narrow, crowded (officially 4 lanes, but effectively smaller than that). Placing pillars of a metro will only reduce the amt of moving space you have on these very crowded roads. I'd like to see how much road space is left along sections of metro 1 after they're done building it.

Pillars of metro are around 1.5 m wide. So you can say that they take away 0.75 m of road space on both carriageways of road. Width of a single lane is 3.0-3.5 m. So the road space wasted is just a small fraction of a lane.

7. Comfort of passenger: Stations when elevated will be exposed to the elements. It's a greater discomfort for passengers, standing in the heat with the grime, dust and pollution of the traffic below adding to the misery.

I think you haven't experienced elevated stations of modern metros. I don't know about others but you never feel hot or sweat in elevated stations of Delhi metro even in scorching summers because of the material used in the roof.

In fact elevated stations save a lot of energy because they do not need a/c. I once read that the amount of air conditioning required for central secretariat station of Delhi metro is equivalent to air conditioning of 800 rooms. So you can guess the amount of electricity you will need.

9. This is a little whimsical on my part, but i think the impact of accidents - manmade or otherwise is worse in elevated. If due to an earthquake, engg. failure or an attack of some sort, the elevated sections might fall on the road and/or nearby buildings killing a lot more ppl than if those accidents happened on the u/g section.

Elevated lines are built keeping in mind the strongest possible earthquake expected in a particular region. Even underground lines are at risk of collapsing due to collapse of earth above them.

And in case of accidents or terrorist attack, elevated lines are much safer than u/g because it is very easy to evacuate people from elevated lines than u/g lines. During London underground bombings, many people died because of suffocation in tunnels and they could not escape because it was too dark in the tunnels. These things (suffocation and darkness) cannot happen in elevated lines.

There was a study sometime back by an IIT professor, and this may already have been discussed in this topic. But it basically stated that the costing for an overhead does not taking into account the oppurtunity loss cost. Especially the one created by traffic jams and disruptions over a 3-4 year period (time it would take to create the metros) and the resultant cost to the people. It was a very good point in favour of the u/g line.

what about stations in u/g. You cannot use TBM for stations as far as I know. You have to use cut and cover and that will interrupt traffic as well if it is in the middle of the street - I am not sure they will find empty spaces everywhere to build stations without disrupting traffic.

i feel the most useful mtro stretch for commuters will be chakala kurla area as the traffic in this area is notorious during rush hours. I was in this part of the town working with some company and used to commute everyday between sakinaka and kurla and it used to take minimum 1.5 hrs to reach 10km distance. Hope this metro rail will ease some congestion on the road!!

what about stations in u/g. You cannot use TBM for stations as far as I know. You have to use cut and cover

I don't think that's true. I can't imagine constructing the ultra-deep Moscow metro having to cut/cover stations as deep as the ones on the network.

So, why not cut and cover along teh existing road alignements. Is it not techinically feasible due to high density? Will the digging be along the whole road or just at a single place?

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Thats the point: If the choice is between cut-n-cover and elevated (once the planners have decided the alignment along existing thoroughfares), they will tend to prefer elevated over CnC because of relative cost savings. DnB option is almost never even entertained during the design phase in such locations.

cut and cover along sv road or linking road will lead to a disaster. a city shut-down and possibly riots

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Bah!!! Kolkata's u/g section is all CnC; nothing is DnB....we were too poor to afford DnB then!!!:nuts:

There was a study sometime back by an IIT professor, and this may already have been discussed in this topic. But it basically stated that the costing for an overhead does not taking into account the oppurtunity loss cost. Especially the one created by traffic jams and disruptions over a 3-4 year period (time it would take to create the metros) and the resultant cost to the people. It was a very good point in favour of the u/g line.

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Ah those academicians!!! Opportunity cost losses are the concern of the city and its citizens, not of the private corporations who bid to build infrastructure. They only concern themselves with immediate profits (or minimal losses) on a QoQ basis, and nothing else (or else the Street will give them a whack violent enough that it will render them incapable of building practically nothing, least of all a metro!!!).

At the end of it all, its all about money......and nothing else!!!

I agree with many of Altan's points but some points need to be re-looked.



I think you haven't experienced elevated stations of modern metros. I don't know about others but you never feel hot or sweat in elevated stations of Delhi metro even in scorching summers because of the material used in the roof.

In fact elevated stations save a lot of energy because they do not need a/c. I once read that the amount of air conditioning required for central secretariat station of Delhi metro is equivalent to air conditioning of 800 rooms. So you can guess the amount of electricity you will need.

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Totally agree with your answers, esp these ones.

In fact, once of the reasons why the monorail stops are gonna b non-a/c is for reasons of maintainance costs. The roofings used nowadays are pretty energy conserving; add to it the ventilation advantages, and we have a winner. It might not seem swanky, but thats not the point with public Xport.


And in case of accidents or terrorist attack, elevated lines are much safer than u/g because it is very easy to evacuate people from elevated lines than u/g lines. During London underground bombings, many people died because of suffocation in tunnels and they could not escape because it was too dark in the tunnels. These things (suffocation and darkness) cannot happen in elevated lines.

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Safety is inversely proportional to the amount of confined space to which a certain number of people are restricted to. In this case, a u/g tube is a sitting duck as compared to the elevated track bridges. Even open air elevated stations are a lot more safer than u/g stations, when it comes to evac procedures.

[I]Work on the city's third Metro line between Colaba and Bandra could start by September 2011.
The MMRDA is planning a 20-km line, which will include an underground stretch from Colaba to Mahalaxmi and a 10- km elevated stretch from Mahalaxmi to Bandra. The proj- ect will cost MMRDA Rs 8,857 crore. Earlier, the government had planned to build a 20-km underground line between Colaba and Bandra .


To cut down on the expens- es, MMRDA has now proposed a plan where the project will be partly underground and part- ly elevated. This will help the MMRDA save about Rs 3,000 crore.


Whatever happened to the Bandra-Airport extension? :?:?

Source:India Infoline

http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/242-structures-demolished-to-pave-way-for-Metro-car-depot/4833506601

The total area of 7068 sq metre of CTS no 866 C was vacated,
The entire lot of two hundred and forty two structures were demolished by MMRDA at the Sahayog Nagar, Four Bunglows for the construction of the Versova Car Depot for the Metro project.

The total area of 7068 sq metre of CTS no 866 C was vacated, barricaded and handed over to Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd to facilitate the development of the Metro Car Depot, which is crucial for the 11 km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro route.

The phase two of the demolition was done on May 05, where the remaining 15 structures of the 242 structures were demolished, of which eight eligible structures were rehabilitated to Poonam Nagar, Andheri and Oshiwara.

“The car depot is an important aspect of the Versova Andheri Ghatkopar corridor and the clearance of the land will aid the depot development work and ensure the timely completion of the same.” said Mr. SVR Srinivas, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

The land was acquired by MMRDA in August 2009. After the acquisition Deputy collector, Encroachment, conducted the eligibility criteria verification of the encroached structures and post verification eight structures were found eligible for the rehabilitation and the rest 234 structures were found ineligible.

The phase one, of the demolition was conducted on January 28, 2010 and Two hundred twenty seven structures were demolished by following due process.

The proposed car depot will house the main control room for the VAG corridor and the work of assembling railway tracks will also be carried out at the depot.

Source : TimesofIndia

MMRDA to seek central funds for 3rd Metro route
Ashley D’Mello | TNN

Mumbai: The MMRDA commissioner, Ratnakar Gaikwad, said that they are going ahead with the Metro project’s third line, which will be from Colaba to Bandra. Gaikwad also said that he will approach the Centre for funds.
Gaikwad said that they are expecting to get Rs 3,600 crore from the Centre as viability gap funding for the project that is expected to cost Rs 12,000 crore. The concession agreement for the third line should be signed by December and work should begin by October 2011 after all the formalities are completed.The third line will be an underground route from Colaba to Mahalaxmi after which it will be an elevated route till Bandra.
A study carried out showed that giving out the underground section for commercial activities may not be a good idea as it may be an expensive affair, Gaikwad said. Citizens’ groups in Juhu and Bandra had objected to the line being elevated and had asked for an underground line.
VAG LINE WORK WELL ON TRACK
The Mumbai Metro plan got a boost on Wednesday with the demolition of 242 structures at Sahayog Nagar in Four Bungalows. The demolition was carried out for the construction of the Versova car depot for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) line. The 11-km line is expected to be ready by the end of December. MMRDA’s additional metropolitan commissioner S Srinivas said the plot was acquired in August 2009. TNN

from 9000 crores its now 12000 crores. i cant believe no one is asking questions on how they arrive at these figures

Source : TimesofIndia

MMRDA to seek central funds for 3rd Metro route
Ashley D’Mello | TNN

Mumbai: The MMRDA commissioner, Ratnakar Gaikwad, said that they are going ahead with the Metro project’s third line, which will be from Colaba to Bandra. Gaikwad also said that he will approach the Centre for funds.
Gaikwad said that they are expecting to get Rs 3,600 crore from the Centre as viability gap funding for the project that is expected to cost Rs 12,000 crore. The concession agreement for the third line should be signed by December and work should begin by October 2011 after all the formalities are completed.The third line will be an underground route from Colaba to Mahalaxmi after which it will be an elevated route till Bandra.
A study carried out showed that giving out the underground section for commercial activities may not be a good idea as it may be an expensive affair, Gaikwad said. Citizens’ groups in Juhu and Bandra had objected to the line being elevated and had asked for an underground line.
VAG LINE WORK WELL ON TRACK
The Mumbai Metro plan got a boost on Wednesday with the demolition of 242 structures at Sahayog Nagar in Four Bungalows. The demolition was carried out for the construction of the Versova car depot for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) line. The 11-km line is expected to be ready by the end of December. MMRDA’s additional metropolitan commissioner S Srinivas said the plot was acquired in August 2009. TNN

$2.6 billion dollars just as viability fund gap??? Suspicious....

Utility services need to shifted in underground lines also because most of the times the tunnel lies just a few metres below the surface. And trees may also be chopped for u/g lines because the roots of some trees are very wide and deep and interfere with the path of tunnels

I was talking abt overgnd utility services like street lights. You do have a point abt the trees though, but typically metro lines are 15-50m u/g....more likely gravitating to the 20m mark typically, so interfering directly with the tunnels is rare. However, I do agree to the pt that trees may likely be uprooted during u/g construction as well.

Modern trains and tracks are designed to make very less noise. From my own experience living in Delhi, I can say that if you are standing below an elevated line, you cannot even hear the sound of train passing above you because of road traffic. And if you are sitting in a house along an elevated line, what you hear is just a minimal humming sound when a train passes. Most of the times it won't even catch your attention, though the noise can be a bit higher at sharp turns..

Here's the pt I disagree with - I think often you may not hear the noise when systems are a few yrs old, but things do take a turn for the worse as infrastructure ages. I know this is a problem in NY,DC and even to some extent Dubai. Obviously I am not talking about hearing the trains over road traffic, but more like a train buzzing right past your window at midnight...wud definitely be irritating. If you've ever stayed in a building right next to the tracks, it is an issue for many ppl. Also don't forget, we do have a tradition in some house of keeping windows open for ventilation.

And do we know if they are soundproofing the elevated sections?

Pillars of metro are around 1.5 m wide. So you can say that they take away 0.75 m of road space on both carriageways of road. Width of a single lane is 3.0-3.5 m. So the road space wasted is just a small fraction of a lane.

Kind of my pt...it's between 21-25% of the existing road space, and that is not a small fraction.

I think you haven't experienced elevated stations of modern metros. I don't know about others but you never feel hot or sweat in elevated stations of Delhi metro even in scorching summers because of the material used in the roof.

Not in Delhi I haven't, so I can't comment on these newer stations. I guess the point abt the material is important, but in some seemingly well-ventilated stations, I have felt the heat, so mebbe if u get ur construction rite, it shud be good.

In fact elevated stations save a lot of energy because they do not need a/c. I once read that the amount of air conditioning required for central secretariat station of Delhi metro is equivalent to air conditioning of 800 rooms. So you can guess the amount of electricity you will need.

Cannot argue with tht for sure.

Elevated lines are built keeping in mind the strongest possible earthquake expected in a particular region. Even underground lines are at risk of collapsing due to collapse of earth above them.

And in case of accidents or terrorist attack, elevated lines are much safer than u/g because it is very easy to evacuate people from elevated lines than u/g lines. During London underground bombings, many people died because of suffocation in tunnels and they could not escape because it was too dark in the tunnels. These things (suffocation and darkness) cannot happen in elevated lines.

Like I said it just a whimsical point, but I had this weird notion in my head in the middle of the night while typing - what if the pillars fall and the elevated section falls on a building or on ppl on the road...I guess if a strong enuf earthquake comes by for tht to happen, then a lot worse will happen!

At the end, Abi, there are obv pros n cons for each type of option, but I do think that the cost differences are exaggerated (or they do not take into account ancilliary costs mentioned before) and that the resulting extra cost is beneficial in ways both quantifiable and unquantifiable!

Another qn to MMRDA shud be: If cost is the reason, then pray y are parts of metro 3 lines u/g? If it's so costly, and pvt investors shy away from u/g, y do they think they will buy the idea for u/g, even partial, on line 3?

Aside
There was a debate some months back in DC as well on the same issue for a new line under construction, and it was interesting how points like whether elevated tracks would inhibit "urban walkable spaces" were talking ppints. IMO the debate with elevated vs u/g is a matter how you weigh the extra cost of the tunnel vs the eyesore of an elevated track. The tunnel costs money now. The elevated tracks cost obstruction of the view forever. Politicians/investors never care about forever, they only care about money now.

from 9000 crores its now 12000 crores. i cant believe no one is asking questions on how they arrive at these figures

Actually, I think that might be an error...Check out the article below from today's hindustan times...They explain it a bit more clearly than TimesofIndia(who as usual have not checked their facts...its not page 3 news :)

Work on the city's third Metro line between Colaba and Bandra could start by September 2011.
The MMRDA is planning a 20-km line, which will include an underground stretch from Colaba to Mahalaxmi and a 10- km elevated stretch from Mahalaxmi to Bandra. The proj- ect will cost MMRDA Rs 8,857 crore. Earlier, the government had planned to build a 20-km underground line between Colaba and Bandra .

Seventeen-km of the line would have been underground between Colaba and Mahim while the remaining 3 km was supposed to be an elevated route from Mahim to Bandra.
However the estimated cost of this project was Rs 12,000 crore.

To cut down on the expens- es, MMRDA has now proposed a plan where the project will be partly underground and part- ly elevated. This will help the MMRDA save about Rs 3,000 crore.

“An partly elevated and a partly underground line mean we need to seek only Rs 3600 crore from the government as viability gap funding,“ said Metropolitan Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad “We will be moving the cen- tral government for clearances from the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure. We are hoping that work on the project will start by September 2011,“ added Gaikwad.

The third Metro line will have about 80-km of Metro network across the city by 2016. The first Metro line between Versova- Andheri-Ghatkopar is expect- ed to be completed by December 2010.

Work on the second line is expected to begin by end of this year.

yeah thats what was said earlier as well. 12k for u/g, 9k for part u/g

still works out to more than 600 cr per km of u/g. as opposed to 200-300 cr in delhi and bangalore

$2.6 billion dollars just as viability fund gap??? Suspicious....

Which dollar are you talking about ? INR 3600 crore is less than 1 billion US $.

I was talking abt overgnd utility services like street lights. You do have a point abt the trees though, but typically metro lines are 15-50m u/g....more likely gravitating to the 20m mark typically, so interfering directly with the tunnels is rare. However, I do agree to the pt that trees may likely be uprooted during u/g construction as well.

In cut and cover method, lines are quite shallow, they are just a few metres below surface. Even in tunneling, they are quite shallower than you mentioned. In Delhi, the deepest station is about 50 m deep and all others are half deep as that. And tunnels are even shallower than stations. While sitting in the train, you can clearly notice the vertical movement of the articulated cars which suggests the difference in depths between stations and tunnels.

Here's the pt I disagree with - I think often you may not hear the noise when systems are a few yrs old, but things do take a turn for the worse as infrastructure ages. I know this is a problem in NY,DC and even to some extent Dubai. Obviously I am not talking about hearing the trains over road traffic, but more like a train buzzing right past your window at midnight...wud definitely be irritating. If you've ever stayed in a building right next to the tracks, it is an issue for many ppl. Also don't forget, we do have a tradition in some house of keeping windows open for ventilation.

You are comparing with wrong metros. NY metro is quite noisy compared to modern metros. I have doubts about your claim that Dubai metro is noisy. As I said before, even if you are sitting in a house next to metro line, you will hardly notice the sound of metro trains if you are not paying particular attention to trains.

Kind of my pt...it's between 21-25% of the existing road space, and that is not a small fraction.

You have miscalculated. That 0.75 m was for only 2 lanes and not for every lane of the road. If the road is 4 lane and 14 m wide, then the figure comes out to be about 10% (1.5 m out of 14 m). Wider the road, lesser is the figure.

Opening some "no motor" areas in SoBo would be a good idea, for eg, someplace around Kala Ghoda, Univ, etc., and possibly start some kind of street car/tram service (with OHP) in lieu of buses and taxis (not an outright ban, but restrictions on the number and charges). This will be esp helpful once the u/g section of the metro is up and running in a few years.

[I]Work on the city's third Metro line between Colaba and Bandra could start by September 2011.
The MMRDA is planning a 20-km line, which will include an underground stretch from Colaba to Mahalaxmi and a 10- km elevated stretch from Mahalaxmi to Bandra. The proj- ect will cost MMRDA Rs 8,857 crore. Earlier, the government had planned to build a 20-km underground line between Colaba and Bandra .


To cut down on the expens- es, MMRDA has now proposed a plan where the project will be partly underground and part- ly elevated. This will help the MMRDA save about Rs 3,000 crore.


Whatever happened to the Bandra-Airport extension? :?:?

i wouldnt trust any media reports or the monthly bulletins you get from the mmrda. they obviously have no freakin clue themselves on what is happening

wait until someone actually starts construction on the line. anything till then is worthless and liable to be changed within a month

meanwhile we can see the effects of the 'master' planning of the mmrda in line 2

http://www.zeenews.com/news622956.html

Proposed 2nd line of Metro in Greater Mumbai hits roadblock

New Delhi: The proposed second line of metro connecting Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra in Greater Mumbai has hit a roadblock with a 'green panel' citing threat to the fragile mangroves due to the car depots meant for its maintenance.

To be constructed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the proposed 32-km metro rail with 27 elevated stations en route will be the longest metro corridor on public-private partnership.

Two maintenance depots at Charkop and Mankhurd (in an area of 19.69 hectares and 24 hectares respectively) have been proposed at the cost of Rs 1,532 crore in Greater Mumbai.

However, recommending to "defer" the project, an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Environment Ministry in a recent meeting has asked the Authority to first get a nod from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) under the CRZ notification.

Seeking a nod, the MRMDA had pleaded that the project was of public importance and would cater footfall of 12.75 lakhs, 18.77 lakhs and 22.16 lakhs in the years 2011, 2021 and 2031.

The project proponent also pointed out that all the constructions falling in the CRZ-I were proposed on stilt level to avoid disturbance to mangroves in the area and that there was no other site available.

However, the EAC took note that the MCZMA last year had identified the project's "proposed activities are in CRZ-I and not permissible as per CRZ, 1991," and that its earlier reference were not provided as a clear recommendation.

"While the project proponent have presented some notable changes in the project plans as viewed from the previous position and partially in accordance with stipulations by the EAC earlier.

"However, the requirements under the CRZ Notifications are still not met," sources said, adding, moreover there is a ban on the destruction of mangroves as per the orders of the High Court of Bombay.

It also expressed concern that a large number of piers to be constructed for the proposed elevated corridor for the metro would overshadow the entire area at the cost of mangroves.

Asking it to seek permission of the Bombay High Court in respect of the activities in mangrove area, besides from MCZMA, the EAC has also sought a proposal for compensatory mangrove plantation.

PTI

Here's the pt I disagree with - I think often you may not hear the noise when systems are a few yrs old, but things do take a turn for the worse as infrastructure ages. I know this is a problem in NY,DC and even to some extent Dubai. Obviously I am not talking about hearing the trains over road traffic, but more like a train buzzing right past your window at midnight...wud definitely be irritating. If you've ever stayed in a building right next to the tracks, it is an issue for many ppl. Also don't forget, we do have a tradition in some house of keeping windows open for ventilation.

========================================================

I do agree that some of the u/g sections of the metro in NYC which are older or in shallow CnC tunnels are very noisy indeed. In fact the sections above ground (esp running along some of the 100+ yr old bridges) are a complete nuisance. The same applies to the Boston MBTA lines (eg, try the red line crossing over Charles from Boston to MIT campus/Cambridge - the elevated sections over land are a pain - thankfully, the line goes u/g the moment it reaches the Cambridge side....but I guess that happened precisely because of intense lobbying by the academic types, citing school zoning noise restrictions). Even in DC, only the elevated sections are comparatively noisy, while some of the deep-bore tunnel sections run as if they dont even exist (DC has some of the deepest lines and tunnels in some sections anywhere in NorthAm). Ofcourse, the elevated sections extending out into MD (beyond Bethesda, eg) are going to add to noise pollution, although they are comparatively less irritating, partly because they are newer eqpt compared to NYC and Boston (which is NorthAm's oldest).

If you want real "noise", try Chicago's EL train service.....

And do we know if they are soundproofing the elevated sections?

=======================================================

In the current budget, I dont think so....and passive soundproofing would cause the elevated bridges to be made broader, which by the looks of the u/c section snaps in this forum, looks impossible to implement in many sections (JP Rd., MV Rd. in Andheri, eg).

Like I said it just a whimsical point, but I had this weird notion in my head in the middle of the night while typing - what if the pillars fall and the elevated section falls on a building or on ppl on the road...I guess if a strong enuf earthquake comes by for tht to happen, then a lot worse will happen!

========================================================

Most pillar constructions done today, if done properly, can withstand 7+ quakes, which is statistically impossible in the seismic zone that Mumbai sits on.

Another qn to MMRDA shud be: If cost is the reason, then pray y are parts of metro 3 lines u/g? If it's so costly, and pvt investors shy away from u/g, y do they think they will buy the idea for u/g, even partial, on line 3?

=========================================================

The u/g sections are only in Mumbai city proper, which has a much higher bldg density than, say, the westside suburbs. Moreover, townside has heritage restrictions which preclude elevated sections completely. Moreover, digging under and near Mithi will only elevate costs and cause more damage to the mangroves, and hence the line rises from Mahim on to BKC, but if and when they extend the line from BKC to the Airport, that portion shall once again be u/g, since the terminals are on the far side from BKC, and the line will need to pass thru land occupied by the runways and taxiways, if it is to take the shortest path.


Aside
There was a debate some months back in DC as well on the same issue for a new line under construction, and it was interesting how points like whether elevated tracks would inhibit "urban walkable spaces" were talking ppints. IMO the debate with elevated vs u/g is a matter how you weigh the extra cost of the tunnel vs the eyesore of an elevated track. The tunnel costs money now. The elevated tracks cost obstruction of the view forever. Politicians/investors never care about forever, they only care about money now.

========================================================

"Urban Walkable Spaces"???? Do we even have such a concept in Mumbai?? Can we even afford such a luxury???

meanwhile we can see the effects of the 'master' planning of the mmrda in line 2

http://www.zeenews.com/news622956.html

Proposed 2nd line of Metro in Greater Mumbai hits roadblock

New Delhi: The proposed second line of metro connecting Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra in Greater Mumbai has hit a roadblock with a 'green panel' citing threat to the fragile mangroves due to the car depots meant for its maintenance.

To be constructed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the proposed 32-km metro rail with 27 elevated stations en route will be the longest metro corridor on public-private partnership.

Two maintenance depots at Charkop and Mankhurd (in an area of 19.69 hectares and 24 hectares respectively) have been proposed at the cost of Rs 1,532 crore in Greater Mumbai.

However, recommending to "defer" the project, an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Environment Ministry in a recent meeting has asked the Authority to first get a nod from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) under the CRZ notification.

Seeking a nod, the MRMDA had pleaded that the project was of public importance and would cater footfall of 12.75 lakhs, 18.77 lakhs and 22.16 lakhs in the years 2011, 2021 and 2031.

The project proponent also pointed out that all the constructions falling in the CRZ-I were proposed on stilt level to avoid disturbance to mangroves in the area and that there was no other site available.

However, the EAC took note that the MCZMA last year had identified the project's "proposed activities are in CRZ-I and not permissible as per CRZ, 1991," and that its earlier reference were not provided as a clear recommendation.

"While the project proponent have presented some notable changes in the project plans as viewed from the previous position and partially in accordance with stipulations by the EAC earlier.

"However, the requirements under the CRZ Notifications are still not met," sources said, adding, moreover there is a ban on the destruction of mangroves as per the orders of the High Court of Bombay.

It also expressed concern that a large number of piers to be constructed for the proposed elevated corridor for the metro would overshadow the entire area at the cost of mangroves.

Asking it to seek permission of the Bombay High Court in respect of the activities in mangrove area, besides from MCZMA, the EAC has also sought a proposal for compensatory mangrove plantation.

PTI

=========================================================

So the whole thing is in limbo because the planners cant push back the depot 100 m further back from the CRZ-I marked zone, is it??? Where the hell do they find these morons from???

And WTF do they mean by "defer"???? Defer till when, and to what end??? Do we defer and wait till the mangroves wilt by themselves due to global warming, or something!!! WTF!!!:bash::bash:

Whatever happened to the Bandra-Airport extension? :?:?

are they still talking about the proposed route and the bandra-airport section as an extension later on with separate funding agreement?

Why is Bandra-Airport underground when much deserving Mahalaxmi-Mahim and Bandra- Andheri(in fact till Malad) are elevated. It can very well take a much wider WEH, especially, if Line 2 starts operations

Why is Bandra-Airport underground when much deserving Mahalaxmi-Mahim and Bandra- Andheri(in fact till Malad) are elevated. It can very well take a much wider WEH, especially, if Line 2 starts operations

======================================================

One thing is for sure, building along the WEH will not be economical; on the other hand, they might try to build the line "as the crow flies"; building a route (that targets airport passengers specifically) in a round about fashion will not only be unpopular, but also unworkable and uneconomical in many ways. A shortest-path approach is optimal, which means that it has to jump from BKC across the entire span of the airside of CSIA (from the south) to the terminal, and the only way of doing that is by going u/g. Ofcourse, we could go elevated by skirting the fringes of the CSIA airfield, but if you check the topography, the airside is not a regular shaped (quad) patch of land; CSIA is actually has a star shaped airside, bounded by extremely dense low rise dev on atleast 2 sides, meaning that a straight route skirting the edges will only make matters worse (construction will be time consuming, land acq will be messy, and the route will be inconveniently time consuming); Moreover, some of the eastern fringes of the airside of CSIA is actually earmarked for GVK for commercial purposes, as per the contract, and it is highly unlikely that they will part with even an inch of that land for whatever purpose (and I think its only fair to them, considering the messy affair that land acq has been) - ofcourse, GVK's dream is possible only if the slums are rehabbed, which is another contentious issue.

I think MHXM-MHM section is already u/g, so no cribs abt that, though BAN-ADH is not going to be u/g by a looooooooong stretch - there has to be a compelling biz case for both MMRDA and the bidding party to do so. Currently, such a biz case exists only for townside upto MHM and the BKC-CSIA stretch.

Public transporation need not be commercialized targeting economical returns. If they can go underground for limited passengers from airport, they can as well go underground in the dense neighbourhoods for the social good.

If PPP does not work, why not try Delhi metro model?

can any one post some picture of chakala - sakinaka metro corridor? 8 months ago when i left mumbai, this region was nothing more than a hell with lots of traffic congestion and construction materials...

the current proposal is for mahalaxmi-bandra to be elevated, not u/g

You are comparing with wrong metros. NY metro is quite noisy compared to modern metros. I have doubts about your claim that Dubai metro is noisy. As I said before, even if you are sitting in a house next to metro line, you will hardly notice the sound of metro trains if you are not paying particular attention to trains.

My point of comparing the NYC metro was not a direct comparison...the NYC sections are over 100 yrs old at many places, are on (ugly) steel girders, and do make a lot of noise, much more than we can expect from systems built tdy. But my pt was more historical - when they built thr 3rd Av El. line they didn't expect some of the shortcomings. Due to the perceived ugliness and the noise, they had to tear it down. The likelihood of that happening in Mumbai is remote in the near future, but once can nvr say what will happen 60 yrs from now :P It's just a case-study...the pt being we learn from the mistakes and successes of other cities.

And as far as Dubai is concerned...I speak from personal experience.

You have miscalculated. That 0.75 m was for only 2 lanes and not for every lane of the road. If the road is 4 lane and 14 m wide, then the figure comes out to be about 10% (1.5 m out of 14 m). Wider the road, lesser is the figure.

My bad there - ur figure of 10% is correct.

Whatever happened to the Bandra-Airport extension? :?:?
If that does go ahead, it would have to be u/g no, considering it will service the airport.

If you want real "noise", try Chicago's EL train service.....

EL is crazy noise...I hate the screech on sharp turns.

In the current budget, I dont think so....and passive soundproofing would cause the elevated bridges to be made broader, which by the looks of the u/c section snaps in this forum, looks impossible to implement in many sections (JP Rd., MV Rd. in Andheri, eg).

Precisely my pt - W/O soundproofing noise levels may be more than what Abi predicts. Also in Dubai many newer buildings being built have soundproof walls. Not the case in Mumbai.

The u/g sections are only in Mumbai city proper, which has a much higher bldg density than, say, the westside suburbs. Moreover, townside has heritage restrictions which preclude elevated sections completely.

I can't agree that bandra-juhu sections have a much lesser building density than most places in SoBo. They are quite close, if anything increasing.

The line rises from Mahim on to BKC

Your heritage restriction pt is correct. So let's assume for a moment that the line is u/g until Mahim as per the original plan. What justifies MMRDA building an u/g section from Mahalaxmi to Mahim, and not in Bandra or Chembur beats me....cost issues come up in both cases.

"Urban Walkable Spaces"???? Do we even have such a concept in Mumbai?? Can we even afford such a luxury???

Perhaps now we can't, but that was just an interesting aside that I thought worth mentioning. Hopefully our country will reach a stage soon where such things are important and doable :)

So at Bandra station, we have existing suburban lines at gnd level. Line 2 if it remains elevated will be come at level 1. Line 3 if it remains elevated will come at +2, so one more cable-stayed bridge there, plus one more where line 3 will cross over WEH.

If anything line 3 should be u/g as it enters Bandra stn, since it will continue to be if it extends to the airport.

@partho - Will boring a tunnel under the mithi river necessarily affect the mangroves near Mahim bay inlet?

Public transporation need not be commercialized targeting economical returns. If they can go underground for limited passengers from airport, they can as well go underground in the dense neighbourhoods for the social good.

If PPP does not work, why not try Delhi metro model?

========================================================

And you think the Delhi Metro is making any money, is it?? Not that we expect MM1 to begin making money any time soon, but why should tax money be used to provide secondary and tertiary infrastructure in the first place?? I think the most prudent financial model is to use tax money for primary infrastructure, and let the private sector manage the building of secondary and tertiary systems (like metro/mono rail, freeway and expressway systems etc.). And yes, making money out of an investment is a must. It might not mean much now, but will show on your balance sheets in a couple of decades.....and then will begin the run on your tax sheet, n u r not gonna like it then, buddy....so it is better to begin paying a lil more right from the start, than having to foot a much heavier bill (inc. interest) later.

Perhaps now we can't, but that was just an interesting aside that I thought worth mentioning. Hopefully our country will reach a stage soon where such things are important and doable :)

===========================================================

How in God's good earth?????????/ Do u see our pop decreasing or our land mass increasing any time soon??? For all I know, Mumbai's land mass will only decrease, if the global warming nuts r right!!! Oh, and if any one has hallucinations of "urban decongestion" in India, then you can just about forget it.....aint happening for a couple of centuries!!!

@partho - Will boring a tunnel under the mithi river necessarily affect the mangroves near Mahim bay inlet?

=========================================================

One thing is sure, it will be expensive (since mangroves tend to root themselves all the way to the sub-bed rock, which is precisely why they are so effective against storm surges), since (after accounting for a buffer), digging will have to begin deeper than normal. Moreover, this section will have to account for all the attendant risks and precautions of submarine digging (leakage, etc.)!!! But coming back to yr main question, no not necessarily. But that hinges on the assumption of integrity of the implementing agency in ensuring that plans are strictly adhered to (and allowing for minimal margins of error).

Reliance logo on metro rakes ruins unveiling plan
Ninad Siddhaye / DNA Saturday, May 8, 2010

Mumbai: The first four rakes of Mumbai’s first metro arrived in the city last month. It had been planned that they would be unveiled by chief minister Ashok Chavan on Maharashtra Day. But the plan had to be shelved. Blame it on the logos embossed on the swanky made-in-China rakes.

The logos should have read Mumbai Metro One, the official name of the special project vehicle (SPV) handling construction of the 11-km long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor. But instead they read ‘Reliance Metro’.

A source said the discrepancy was spotted by a team of officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) who went to inspect the rakes on their arrival.

Reliance Infrastructure heads the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), in which the MMRDA has a 26% stake. The other partner in the SPV is the France-based Veolia transport company.

“The China-made rakes should have carried the Mumbai Metro One logo. We were shocked to see ‘Reliance Metro’ logos instead. Initially it had been decided that Reliance Infra would be sent a notice in this regard. Later, the MMRDA changed its mind and verbally notified the company about the logo controversy,” a senior MMRDA official told DNA on condition of anonymity.

A spokesperson for the MMOPL, too, confirmed that the MMRDA had not served any notice on Reliance Infrastructure.

Asked about the logo issue, MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said the final logo had still not been decided. “There is some time left before the metro starts running. We will have to finalise a logo before that. It will obviously carry the city’s name. Once the logo is finalised, we will have to take approval of all the MMOPL stakeholders. The logo embossed on the rakes is not the final one,” he said.

An MMRDA source said because of the ‘Reliance Metro’ logos the rakes were not unveiled by the chief minister on Maharashtra Day. “We expect that the logos will soon be changed,” he said.

copyright DNA

Reliance logo on metro rakes ruins unveiling plan
Ninad Siddhaye / DNA Saturday, May 8, 2010

==========================================

Totally agree.....Is the Jr. Ambani trying to prove a point? Has he become bigger than the city that suckled him??? However, I wonder why MMRDA stopped short of firing off a written memo to its partner? What exactly are they scared of? Wonder what the guys @ Veolia think of all this?

This is almost beginning to look like a ego-trip for Anil, now that he has had his ass set on fire by elder bro's RIL (based on the recent SC verdict on Krishna-6 gas pricing flap)!!!

And as far as Dubai is concerned...I speak from personal experience.



You think that the Dubai metro is loud? if that's the case, you will most deff. be disappointed to travel on any metro in the world! BTW.. i use it for my daily commute, so am talking from daily experience too...

==========================================

Totally agree.....Is the Jr. Ambani trying to prove a point? Has he become bigger than the city that suckled him??? However, I wonder why MMRDA stopped short of firing off a written memo to its partner? What exactly are they scared of? Wonder what the guys @ Veolia think of all this?

This is almost beginning to look like a ego-trip for Anil, now that he has had his ass set on fire by elder bro's RIL (based on the recent SC verdict on Krishna-6 gas pricing flap)!!!

+1

I don't think that's true. I can't imagine constructing the ultra-deep Moscow metro having to cut/cover stations as deep as the ones on the network.
You're both wrong -- Moscow's train stations, like every other underground train station on the planet including Delhi's, were manually bored. (That is, built in place underground, but without TBMs.) However, in the last few years the first successful trials of diagonal TBMs for digging escalator shafts were completed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, so expect to see more of this in the future.

^^No wonder trying to imitate the status of tatas and birlas!

So at Bandra station, we have existing suburban lines at gnd level. Line 2 if it remains elevated will be come at level 1. Line 3 if it remains elevated will come at +2, so one more cable-stayed bridge there, plus one more where line 3 will cross over WEH.

If anything line 3 should be u/g as it enters Bandra stn, since it will continue to be if it extends to the airport.

@partho - Will boring a tunnel under the mithi river necessarily affect the mangroves near Mahim bay inlet?

I don't know much about structural engineering, but I'm pretty sure we dont need cable-stayed bridges at all the points mentioned above. Cable stayed bridges AFAIK are required only for spanning significant lengths when a pillar in the intervening region is not possible. In some of these places simply increasing the length of the pillars might suffice.

Hi,


I doubt where on earth will metro get space to change its elevation from U/G to O/G near Bandra.
Look at this.
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=19.0497663&lon=72.8414369&z=16&l=0&m=h

The metro would come from Mahim west side (near police line and Muktidham society in map) at say U/G level as planned.

How will it cross:
1. Western express highway
2. Western railway lines
3. Mithi river
4. Pipelines supplying water to Mumbai city
5. Skywalk.

What I can think of an alignment is making it remain u/g and go below Xaviers college, Western railway lines below the batching plant) and also the pipelines (at U/G level only) and then emerge just after the dense mangroves (which are already illegally destroyed: Just see a small bridge made by the locals from Sion-Bandra link road to deep in mangroves. the centre part is destroyed). Then it will make a left turn and change grades.

It may run parallel to Sion Bandra link road for changing grades and then go overground till Kalanagar Jn. where the present skywalk ends.


Advantages:
1. No need of any bridge of any kind for crossing WR lines.
2. No need to destroy mangroves
3. No need to cross mithi river from underground.
4. Enshure connectivity to bandra station from kalanagar via Skywalk.
5. Facilitating entry in BKC with proper elevation.

Disadvantages:
1. The groundwater level in this region will be very close to surface. So digging of a tunnel here (below the mangroves) would be difficult.
2. Still, clearance from CRZ will be a problem.
3. Involves more messing at Kalanagar junction.

Now let us draft its onward alignment:

* It will run just like phase-1 metro, on the dividers of BKC road.
* Elevated till Bharat diamond borse, MMRDA grounds. It can have a station at ground level somewhere near MMRDA grounds.

Then at the tri-junction of BKC road and the one coming from Kurla depot, it can go u/g. and head northwards. Go belo the AAI colony and all the runways too emerge directly at SE arm of the newly planned airport (at the present taxi stand).

Hi,


I doubt where on earth will metro get space to change its elevation from U/G to O/G near Bandra.
Look at this.
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=19.0497663&lon=72.8414369&z=16&l=0&m=h
.


As per the latest alignment, it should come up at Mahalakshmi and run elevated all the way to BKC after which it will go underground (the MMRDA grounds as you mentioned should be ideal).

* it should come up at Mahalakshmi and run elevated all*

This means building up of piers at Almost silty clay of Mithi river and over the thousands of mangroves at bandra and holding up the issues for 5 more years atleast!