Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an indigenously-built metro coach on Saturday that will be put to use by Mumbai metro network. The coach, the first in the list of 500 to be delivered to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, has been developed by Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) at its Bengaluru facility in just 75 days.
Modi launched the coach along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Metropolitan commissioner RA Rajeev said that the new coach will enable commuters to travel along with their bicycles, as is seen in the developed world. Modi is also expected to lay the foundation stone for three more metro lines, extending over a length of 42 km. The expansion project is expected to cost over Rs 19,000 crores.
The three new lines will take the total number of metro lines to 14 across the Mumbai metropolitan region.
The new corridors are the 9.2-km Gaimukh-Shivaji Chowk (Mira Road) metro-10; the 12.8-km Wadala-CST metro-11; and the 20.7-km Kalyan-Taloja metro-12 corridor.
Modi is also expected to lay the foundation stone for the 32-storey Metro Bhavan at Aarey Colony. The project has been met with public criticism because Aarey Colony is one of the two large green belts of the metropolis. The metro headquarters will be the integrated operations and control centre for the proposed 14 metro lines in and around Mumbai.
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