FOBs to connect Metro 7 to suburban railway stations

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has appointed a consultant for building a network of FOBs (foot over bridges) along the upcoming Metro 7 (Andheri east to Dahisar east) route, which will connect suburban railway stations at Western Express Highway.

An engineering consultancy firm, Urban Mass Transit, has been tasked to study the integration of six metro stations as part of the Metro 7 project with the suburban railways.

Similarly, the authority is planning to link the stations with the nearest bus terminals, from wherein the passengers can board BEST buses, thus adding to the ease of commute for Mumbaikars.

They will carry out a separate tendering process for construction of FOBs.  “We will link the suburban railway stations with the metro station which will enable the commuter to travel through a single ticket under Integrated Ticketing System. A consultant has been appointed for the same to study the integration,” said Pravin Darade, Additional Metropolitan Commiss-ioner, MMRDA.

Meanwhile, around 40 per cent of the civil work of Metro 7 has been completed and the authority is planning to increase the manpower by December. This will be done to increase the pace of work to meet the 2020 deadline of the corridor. According to reports, MMRDA will begin laying tracks for the corridor by January 2018.