Mumbai Metro Launches Sunday, Expected to Move 600k Commuters Per Day

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

What’s the Latest?

Mumbai has taken the next step toward becoming a world-class modern Metropolis with the opening of its first Metro line. Residents of India’s most populous city will be able to travel 11.4 km through twelve elevated stations from Versova to Ghatkopaon on an east-west line representing the first phase of a larger project to be finished by 2021. Each rake features four air-conditioned coaches capable of carrying 375 commuters. The trains will run from 5:30 A.M. to midnight at 4 minute intervals and are capable of reaching speeds of 80 km/h.

What’s the Big Idea?

The Mumbai Metro has been a long time coming. The project, inaugurated eight years ago by India’s then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had its initial trial run over a year ago and (like so many other large-scale public transit projects) has experienced many delays up to this point. But now Mumbai is ready to reap the fruits of its labors. The line runs through a corridor connecting east and west parts of the city previously accessible only by traffic-afflicted buses and cabs. What had previously been a 90 minute trip will be made possible in just over twenty. The ability to quickly move hundreds of thousands of people per day could be a huge economic boon to a city that continues to grow in prominence on the world stage.

At the same time, Mumbaikars will now have to experience the many annoyances that affect the rest of the metro-riding world. The first: sudden fare hikes.