Metro-3 Roars to Life: Aarey Depot Nearly Ready

The completion of the carshed construction at Aarey, intended as the operational hub for maintaining Metro coaches for Mumbai Metro Line-3, is imminent, with 95 percent of the project already finalized. Spanning 33.5 kilometers, Metro-3 links Colaba to Seepz via the Bandra Kurla Complex, entirely operating underground. Situated on a 25-hectare land parcel, the Aarey depot will accommodate up to 30 rakes of eight cars.

With a total expenditure of Rs 328 crore, the depot encompasses stabling lines, a workshop, maintenance building, operational control centre (OCC), access control building, auxiliary substation building, and an underground water tank. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), overseeing the Metro project, recently conducted a review of the ongoing work in collaboration with other officials. Phase-1 operations, spanning from BKC to Aarey, will be centrally managed from Aarey's primary monitoring centre, supported by the backup control centre (BCC) at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

Commencing in September 2017, the depot's construction faced a temporary halt in 2019 when then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray suspended the work. However, the project was recommenced by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's government on July 1, 2022, in Aarey.

The initial deadline for completing Phase-1 (BKC to Aarey) was December 2023 but has been rescheduled to April 2024.

News by Rahul Yelligetti