Mumbai Metro has a successful 3-km trial run on Versova-Ghatkopar line

Mumbaikars were treated to a successful trial run of the state's first Metro railway on Wednesday.

On occasion of Maharashtra Day, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan flagged off the three-km long trial run between Versova and Azad Nagar in north Mumbai's Andheri suburb.

The section is a part of the 11.40 km Versova-Ghatkopar corridor which will provide a vital east-west link and drastically reduce travel time from the existing 90 minutes to barely 20 minutes.

The Mumbai Metro's Versova-Ghatkopar first phase is being constructed at a cost of around Rs 2,356 crore by a Reliance Infrastructure-led consortium on behalf of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The Metro sector is an elevated corridor supported by columns at the road median and will enable connectivity of eastern-western suburbs to the Western Railway and Central Railway.

MMRDA plans to provide an interchange facility within the two railway networks at Ghatkopar and Andheri.

Chavan said the Versova-Ghatkopar line will become operational by December. He said the Metro would be extended to the adjacent Thane district and work on a separate monorail project expedited.