Mumbai: Mumbaikars are delighted. The city will soon have its own Metro rail. In fact, the first phase of Mumbai Metro, costing over Rs 2,000 crore, is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
While that target still remains quite far, three years to be precise, what has got Mumbaikars excited is the prospect of covering those long distances in just a few minutes.
Take for instance, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route, one sector that will be covered in the first phase of Metro. In fact, Versova bus depot will be the first Metro station to come up. Usually, it takes over 1 hour and 15 minutes to travel this distance by road during the non-peak hours.
The distance between Versova and Ghatkopar is just 11.4 km. But the road has 12 stations in between. Also, the traffic snarls, numerous traffic signals and bad condition of the roads make travel a really bitter experience on this route.
It is from this route that one can hit the road to Mumbai Airport. The Metro, too, will have one track branching out towards the airport from this route, and this will be a boon for tourists.
"It (Metro) should be there in a metropolitan city like Mumbai. It's also very reasonably priced," says Himanshu Seth, a regular commuter on the Versova-Ghatkopar sector.
Bumper-to-bumber traffic and bad roads are not the only headaches on Mumbai. Most of the roads also get clogged during the rainy season, especially in areas like Marol and Saki Naka.
Hopefully, those anxious hours spent helplessly on the water-logged roads will change when the Metro finally comes up.
And considering the harsh conditions that Mumbaikars negotiate daily on the road, the three years' wait until the completion of Metro will definitely be worth the wait for the Maximum City.
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