Amidst the lockdown relaxations in the state, the average ridership every day has touched 50,000 on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro I corridor which led to the authorities extending service hours by 40 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening.
The Mumbai Metro One had earlier resumed on October 19 after seven months since the coronavirus induced lockdown on March 22. Currently, there are 200 services at a frequency of eight minutes. According to the norms imposed by the state government during the pandemic, only 300 passengers are permitted in each train. MMOPL had hoped to carry 60,000 people, however, the Maharashtra government has permitted only 30 per cent of the workforce in private offices. Moreover, private-sector employees cannot travel on local trains. As per reports, the state is looking at a date for the resumption of all activities next year.
On the other hand, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had earlier approved cost variation for the Metro 7 corridor (Dahisar East-Andheri East) in the recently concluded executive committee meeting. The variation will reportedly amount to ₹200 crores across two packages for Metro 7.
The MMRDA has clarified that this cost variation will not impact the overall cost of the project which will be underway by May 2021 according to the current estimates. Metropolitan Commissioner of the MMRDA, RA Rajeev, in a statement, said, “It is a huge project with several components like land acquisition, the system works, civil construction. So we will save costs in one of these components, which will compensate for the variation. There is no escalation in the overall project cost.”
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