Parallel to the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, MMRDA plans to have a Metro corridor to bridge the distance between Navi Mumbai’s residential nodes and south Mumbai. Officials say the addition of Metro tracks would bring travel time along the 22-km route down to 35 minutes. “We are planning a Metro over the sea, along the road corridor, and the project cost will now exceed Rs 8,000 crore instead of the earlier estimated cost of Rs 6,000 crore,’’ a MMRDA official said. According to the officials, the new design and the proposal would later be forwarded to the state cabinet for approval; once the plan gets the go ahead, the tendering process would start. The MMRDA had earlier planned a suburban railway track along the corridor but synchronisation was a difficult task as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was implementing the sea-link part of the Eastern Freeway, an official said. “However now, that we are handling the sea-link part as well, it will be easier for us to deal with the project,’’ the MMRDA official said. Earlier, the project, which was estimated to cost over Rs 6,000 crore, had been bid for twice. Initially, it was marred by a clash between two Ambani brothers followed by no response to the second bid due to global economic slowdown. The new Metro corridor will reach Belapur where it would meet the proposed Mankhurd-Panvel Metro Corridor. On Sewri side, the Metro would be attached to third Colaba-Bandra-Airport Metro line at Prabhadevi. The MMRDA also plans to implement this project on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, like it is being done in case of the ongoing work of the first line of the Metro, between Versova and Ghatkopar via Andheri. Similar work is poised to start between Charkop and Mankhurd via Bandra, for which Reliance Infrastructure has been appointed as the implementing agency. The tendering of the third Metro line (Colaba to Airport via Bandra) is yet to begin as the consultant’s report on its financial feasibility is still awaited. The sea link will be synchronized with the upcoming Eastern and Western Freeways and the existing Western and Eastern Express Highways. “We felt the need of this planning due to upcoming the special economic zones and the Navi Mumbai airport. The line will be futuristic and can be extended up to Thane, Alibaug and Virar in future,’’ said the source. The project was first envisaged and recommended by then leading business tycoons like, JRD Tata and Dhirubhai Ambani.
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