PM Modi inaugurates Mumbai Metro 3, to open for public tomorrow

Planning a joyride on the ColabaBandraSEEPZ Mumbai Metro Line 3 today Yoursquoll have to wait just a bit longer as Mumbairsquos first fully underground Metro linemdashflagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterdaymdashwill open for public on Monday at 11 am with regular operations starting from 630 am on Tuesday It will not open todayThe PM inaugurated the first phase of the projectmdasha 1269km stretch between Aarey JVLR and BKC All 10 stations on this stretch will be open including the two airport stations T1 and T2 The PM boarded the Metro at the BKC station and interacted with select groups of students Metro workers and beneficiaries of the Maharashtra governmentrsquos Ladki Bahin scheme for womenDuring the visit Modi also launched Metro service mobile app called MetroConnect3 which is designed to enhance the travel experience with latest features ldquoItrsquos a momentous day for Mumbaikars tomorrow With this milestone wersquove reached a new era of seamless travel Metro 3 will transform our cityrsquos landscape making daily commutes easier and more efficientrdquo said Ashwini Bhide managing director MMRCStudents Ladki Bahin beneficiaries and Metro workers were excited to ride the Metro with PM Modi and interact with him PicsAtul KambleAlso known as the Aqua line Metro 3 will operate 96 daily services with seven operational trains and two trains kept as backupmdashone in maintenance and one in standby The minimum fare will be Rs 10 and maximum Rs 50 The total project cost revised to Rs 37276 crore as approved by the Union government in February includes a loan of Rs 21280 crore from the Japan International Cooperation AgencylsquoSo happy to meet himrsquoTaruna KumbarLadki Bahin beneficiarylsquoWe were so happy when he interacted with us He wanted to know how was the Ladki Bahin scheme going and how it has benefited us We have a mahila mandal and we are all women in the business He was very happy to know that the scheme is actually helping us on the groundrsquoVaishali AmbhureLadki Bahin beneficiarylsquoWe have been running our business very successfully thanks to the Ladki Bahin scheme which has helped us to tide over our financial problems We also told PM Modi how the PM SVANidhi microcredit facility for street vendors scheme has been helping us toorsquoAradhya Pal studentlsquoHe asked us if we have travelled on the Metro at night He also asked us what our hobbies and achievements were It was a very friendly conservation and we all enjoyed itrsquoAlqama Ahmed studentlsquoHe was very friendly I was quite overwhelmed on meeting himrsquoAjay Pal Metro workerlsquoHe congratulated us on completing the Metro work and told us to take our families for a ride on itrsquoShahid Alam Metro workerlsquoI was happy to work at the BKC station which is the largest I could not believe that my first ride on the train was with the Prime Ministerrsquo