Mumbai Metro 3: CM Devendra Fadnavis to inaugurate BKC-Worli stretch on May 9

The stations on the extended section include Kotak BKC (seen above), Dharavi, Sitaladevi, Dadar, Siddhivinayak, Worli and Acharya Atre Chowk. File pic

The Mumbai Metro Aqua Line-3 (Aarey-BKC-Atre Chowk) extension to Worli will be inaugurated on Friday by Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis.

Out of the total 33.5-km stretch of Aqua Line-3, a 12.69-km section from Aarey Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is already operational since October 7, 2024.

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Once the entire line begins operations from Friday, it will take merely 39 minutes from Aarey-JVLR in Mumbai suburbs to reach Acharya Atre Chowk South Mumbai's Worli.

The stations on the extended section include Kotak BKC, Dharavi, Sitaladevi, Dadar, Siddhivinayak, Worli and Acharya Atre Chowk.

In February, the Mumbai Metro Aqua Line-3 authorities had stated that the train movement had commenced ahead of Kotak BKC Metro station on the Dharavi to Acharya Atre Chowk stretch, covering 9.77 km and six stations.

The currently operational Aarey to BKC stretch has 10 stations (including the two airport ones). Nine trains are available for this route, of which two will be kept away with one for regular maintenance, one as stand by and seven others in active passenger service, as per a presentation made by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) Managing Director Ashwini Bhide last year.

The detailed plan includes running 260 round trip services (130 Aarey to BKC and 130 between BKC to Aarey) with operational time of 6am to 11pm (based on passenger response).

The 33.5-km-long Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 Corridor is a key project to improve the transportation scenario in the city with 26 underground stations.

The Mumbai Metro Aqua Line-3 integrates with the suburban railway, other Mumbai Metro lines and existing transport modes at around eight locations.

These include the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Churchgate, Grant Road, Mumbai Central, and about a 10-minute walk from Dadar station. At Mahalaxmi, the line is close to the Monorail station and at BKC integrates with the Mumbai Metro Line 2-B and with Metro Line-1 with the Mumbai Metro Line-1.

The final phase of the line is expected to open in Colaba by 2025-end.

The service will be India's first underground metro. The Mithi River is crossed by a twin-tunnel section running under the river between BKC and Dharavi stations. From the entire 3-km twin tunnel section running between the two stations, approximately 2 km passes under an expanded water body, including a 500-metre segment of the active Mithi River channel. To tackle this challenge, custom-designed earth balance machines were developed specifically for tunnelling beneath the water.