The Navi Mumbai Metro is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

system in the city of

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (; also known as New Bombay, its official name until 1995) is a large city next to Mumbai, located in the Konkan division of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is situated in Thane distr ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The planning and construction of the Navi Mumbai Metro was overseen by the

City and Industrial Development Corporation The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) is an Indian city planning agency and richest government authority in India which is formed and controlled by the Government of Maharashtra. CIDCO was formed on 17 March 197 ...

(CIDCO). The system is planned to consist of five rail lines covering a total distance of , out of which one is operational and the other four are being planned. The

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for the project was laid on 1 May 2011, with a target completion date of 2014. After over 9 years of delays, due to slowdowns in construction caused by lack of labour and adequate funding, along with land acquisition issues, the Line-1 of the metro commenced operations on 17 November 2023.

History

The Navi Mumbai Metro projects received formal approval on 29 April 2010, and a public hearing on 21 May 2010 reported no major objections to the plan. CIDCO was named as the implementing agency of the Belapur–Pendhar–Kalamboli–Khandeshwar line, under the Indian Tramway Act 1886, by the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian states of india, state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the List of chief ministers of Maharashtra, chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) ...

on 30 September 2010. The metro's foundation stone was laid on 1 May 2011 by Chief Minister

Prithviraj Chavan Prithviraj Chavan (; born 17 March 1946) is an Indian politician who was the List of Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2010 to 2014. Chavan is a graduate of BITS Pilani and University of California, Berkel ...

, and general foundation work on the system's first phase commenced in October 2011. In March 2012, CIDCO released the metro's complete master plan, including a proposed connection to the

Mumbai Metro The Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region in Maharashtra, India. While the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited is responsible for all metro rail projects being develope ...

. In February 2017, RITES submitted an interim detailed project report (DPR) for Lines II, III and IV of the Navi Mumbai Metro. In February 2013, thousands of villagers in the Navi Mumbai area protested against CIDCO's inaction on local housing developments and its failure to provide restitution for locals affected by infrastructure projects. The protesters pledged to "shut down the CIDCO head office and all development projects in the region. These will include the metro project and any progress on the airport project".

Network

The Navi Mumbai Metro is planned to consist of five lines, totaling in length. , Line 1 of the metro was slated to commence operations in November 2023, which it ultimately did on the 17th of that month.

Line 1

All the phases of Line 1 will be constructed and funded by CIDCO. Lines 2 and 3 will be funded by the

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is the municipal organisation of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. On 17 December 1991 NMMC was constituted. NMMC came in to existence on January 1, 1992. Headquarters NMMC is considered one of the most ...

and

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is a body of the Government of Maharashtra that is responsible for preparation oRegional Plan for MMRand the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The MMRDA w ...

respectively. The total cost of Line 1 is estimated to be .

Construction

The Line 1 consists of 20 stations. The proposed route will link

CBD Belapur The Central Business District of Belapur (C.B.D Belapur) is a large upmarket neighbourhood of Navi Mumbai. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is headquartered in Belapur. Nature Belapur is surrounded by greenery and it is much more organi ...

Kharghar Kharghar is a node of Raigad District's Navi Mumbai and it is a suburb under Panvel Municipal Corporation. It is situated at the northernmost tip of Raigad district. It was developed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) ...

Taloja Taloja is a census town in the Raigad district of Navi Mumbai city, in the India, Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. It is an extension of the Kharghar node and governed by the Panvel Municipal Corporation. The Navi Mum ...

, Taloja MIDC,

Kalamboli Kalamboli is one of the nodes of Navi Mumbai in Raigad District. It is a transportation hub, being situated at the junction of the Sion-Panvel Highway, NH 48, Panvel By-Pass, NH 66 and Mumbai-Pune Expressway and is among the biggest iron and s ...

Kamothe Kamothe is a node of Navi Mumbai in the Raigad district, Raigad District, developed and maintained by CIDCO. It is located on the Sion Panvel Highway and is the third node towards Mumbai after Panvel and Kalamboli. Location The site of Kamo ...

and the Khandeshwar railway station, terminating at the proposed

Navi Mumbai International Airport Navi Mumbai International Airport is an international airport being constructed in Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, Raigad district, Maharashtra, India. When completed, it will become the second airport of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, serving alongside M ...

. In mid-2012, CIDCO awarded the contract for the construction of the section from Belapur to Pendhar to a consortium of Sanjose (Spain), Mahavira Road and Infrastructure (Navi Mumbai), and Supreme Infrastructure (Mumbai). The original deadline to complete the project was in 2016. This was later extended to mid-2017, and then mid-2018. By January 2017, only 60% of the work on the stations had been completed. Finding the progress of work to be unsatisfactory, CIDCO sent a notice terminating the contract to the consortium on 11 January 2017. On 1 March 2017, CIDCO floated new tenders to construct 11 stations along the Belapur-Pendhar section. The previous contractors had completed 60% of the work on the stations. The new contract with worth . Line 1 is planned to be developed in 3 phases:

Infrastructure

An international consortium of companies including

Ansaldo STS Hitachi Rail STS SpA (from ''Hitachi Rail Signalling and Transportation Systems'') or Hitachi Rail STS (previously Ansaldo STS) is an Italian transportation company owned by Hitachi with a global presence in the field of railway signalling and in ...

Tata Projects Tata Projects is an Indian Engineering, procurement, and construction, engineering, procurement and construction company. It is a part of Tata Group. History The company was founded by J. R. D. Tata to create a complete consortium that would tak ...

and CSR Zhuzhou will provide the electrical and mechanical systems for the first phase of Line 1. Ansaldo will conduct systems integration and supply train control systems, telecoms, fare collection systems and equipment storage. The metro's standard gauge network would be electrified at 25 kV AC, with power provided via an

overhead catenary An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

Rolling stock

In 2014, the Chinese company CSR Zhuzhou signed a contract with CIDCO to supply rolling stock for the first phase of the metro's Line 1. The three-car trainsets are long and wide, with a passenger capacity of around 1,100 and a maximum speed of . The trains feature stainless steel bodies, air-conditioning and LED lighting.

Status updates

Construction of Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 progressed steadily from 2018, with trial runs starting in 2019 and delays due to COVID-19 pushing completion to 2024. After receiving safety clearances, the line was opened for commercial operations on November 17, 2023, and reinaugurated by PM Modi in January 2024.

References

{{authority control Transport in Navi Mumbai Airport rail links in India Standard-gauge railways in India 25 kV AC railway electrification