Mumbai Metro safety inspection to start tomorrow

Tests for the final certification to begin public operations of Mumbai Metro's Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line will get underway with the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) planning to inspect it from April 18.

The CMRS has confirmed to the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), the consortium implementing the first metro line, that the team of CMRS would be visiting for inspection from April 18 onwards.

"After receiving the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) certification, MMOPL applied to CMRS on April 4 and in the meanwhile was in the process of preparing for the safety inspection so that CMRS may authorize MMOPL to open the line for public," read a statement issued by MMOPL. The RDSO had issued their certificate for speed, oscillation and emergency braking on April 2.

Once the CMRS certify the 11.4km-long corridor, the next step would be approaching the Ministry of Railways for declaring the line open for public carriage.

For the last six months, the MMOPL authorities have been stating that the line would be opened for public use by the end of 2013-14 financial year, but only to have missed the deadline. Now, no deadline has formally been announced to start the system.

With the opening of the metro rail system, the journey time will reduce drastically to around 25 minutes. Presently, road travel between Versova and Ghatkopar takes over 90 minutes.