Extremely overbudget, extremely delayed but the much awaited and much controversial, first phase of the Mumbai Metro (built by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure) is finally open to the public!
Not only did I ride it on the very first day, I also managed to board the exact same one which the Chief Minister boarded when he declared the line open, earlier in the morning today! It was the one decorated with flowers!
Here’s a video of it pulling into the station!
One of the best things about the metro is the creativity of the posters and signage! Check it out -
8th June being the day the metro was inaugurated, it was extremely crowded!
Also interestingly enough, though in response to the earlier controversies, the name has been settled as ‘Mumbai Metro’ some evidences of the old ‘Reliance Metro’ nomenclature still persist!
However, new controversies regarding pricing are still looming. While I could avail of the introductory Rs. 10 fare, Reliance Infrastructure is hell bent on implementing Rs. 10 – 40 fares while MMRDA wants the fares to be between Rs. 10 – 13! Reliance’s proposed fare chart has already been put up -
All in all, it was a fun ride exploring, Mumbai’s newest mass transit system!
The first phase of te Mumbai Metro is a very welcome development but a lot more transport infrastructure is going to be needed to satisfy all of this ever growing city's infrastruture needs...
