Navi Mumbai: The wait for a ride in Navi Mumbai will soon end as Navi Mumbai Metro has received a safety certificate from the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) for commercial operation. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) received the CMRS certificate on June 21 for commercial operation of line 1 from Belapur to Pendhar.
Vice Chairman and Managing Director of CIDCO Anil Diggikar congratulated Navi Mumbaikars and paid a visit to the Metro on Wednesday. He said that an important milestone has been achieved in the history of Navi Mumbai Metro. “This will facilitate the start of commercial operation of the much-awaited Navi Mumbai Metro service from Belapur to Pendhar for the residents of Navi Mumbai very soon after overcoming numerous hurdles,” said Diggikar.
Project was initiated in June 2010
With the Metro network, south Navi Mumbai will be inter-connected. The project was initiated in 2010, but went through many legal and technical hurdles and remained incomplete for a long time.
CIDCO MD Diggikar thanked the then Minister for Urban Development Department and present Chief Minister and deputy chief minister. He also thanked Dr Sanjay Mukherjee for his persistent efforts in executing this remarkable turnaround of the project.
“The CIDCO administration’s decision to appoint MahaMetro for engineering support to CIDCO was the turning point of the project,” said a CIDCO official. He added that getting ₹500 crore as the financial line of credit from ICICI Bank for execution of the project was another milestone in the project.
Eleven stations ready
Also, in the budget of 2022-23 CIDCO made a provision for Navi Mumbai Metro by allocating dedicated land to monetize the project by solving the financial crunch for operating Navi Mumbai Metro. In October 2021, CIDCO received CMRS certificate to operate Navi Mumbai Metro from Pendhar to Central Park. At present CIDCO has already completed the construction of a total 11 stations of line 1.
Now, CIDCO has received a CMRS certificate for Central Park to Belapur station of line 1, meaning the whole Metro Line 1, which will be operational soon.
A total of 4 elevated metro lines are being developed by CIDCO to further enhance the public transport system in Navi Mumbai. Among them, the work of implementation of Line no.1 from Belapur to Pendhar was taken up first.
Navi Mumbai Metro Line-1
Fare:
The fare of Metro line 1 starts at ₹10 and the planning agency claims that this fare is lower than the fare of air-conditioned buses of NMMT for the same distance. As per the decision, commuters will have to shell out ₹10 for a distance of up to 2 km. Similarly, from 2 to 4 km, the fare will be ₹15. For every 2 km, there is a rise of ₹5 in the fare. However, beyond 10 km, the fare will be ₹40.
Phase 1 of Navi Mumbai consists of 11 stoppages covering a distance of 11.1 km from Belapur to Pendhar (near Taloja).
Total distance from Belapur to Pendhar (line-1): 11.1 Km
Number of stations: 11
Name of stations: Belapur, Sector-7 Belapur, Science Park, Utsav Chowk, Sector 11 Kharghar, Sector 14 Kharghar, Central Park, Pethapada, Sector 34 Kharghar, Panchnand and Pendhar Terminal
The estimated cost for the Metro line-1: ₹3,400 crores
(*CIDCO already infused: ₹2,600 crores
*CIDCO receives ₹500 crores Line of credit from bank
*Remaining will be CIDCO internal accruals)
Expected ridership during peak hours: 8,000
