Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stones for 3 new Metro Lines in Mumbai. Along with the Metro lines, the Prime Minister also inaugurated a completely Made-in-India Metro coach. The new Metro coach has been built by Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) in Bengaluru in 75 days. 

READ | PM Modi's engagements in Maharashtra: Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Nagpur

The new Mumbai Metro coaches will have a facility where commuters can travel along with their bicycles on the lines of the same systems available elsewhere. PM Modi also launched three more Metro lines worth 19,000 crores. He also spoke about the need to create 21st-century cities without which the dream of a $5-Trillion economy will be nothing but a pipe dream. 

Addressing the rally in Mumbai, PM Modi also spoke about how the financial capital of the country is catching up to the National Capital in terms of public transport. The government is also pumping in over Rs 1.2 lakh crore to build 14 metro corridors stretching up to 337 km in the next 10 years.  

READ | PM Modi in Mumbai: ISRO works to achieve goals against all obstacles

The new Metro Lines expected to run by 2026

The new metro lines are expected to be completed by 2026. The new lines for which the PM laid foundation stone on Saturday are the Rs 4,476-crore 9.2-km Gaimukh-Shivaji Chowk (Mira Road) metro-10; the Rs 8,739-crore 12.8-km Wadala-CST metro-11; and the Rs 5,865-crore 20.7-km Kalyan-Taloja metro-12 corridor.

READ | People's mandate in favour of BJP & its alliance: Fadnavis

Speaking about the Metro Project, PM Modi said, "Be it the new metro lines or the new Metro bhavan or the elevated BKC bridge connecting the highway...all of them are undertaken with a vision to make life easier for the commuters." 

By the time the Metro lines will come to completion, Mumbai will have 337 km of metro network and 14 lines.

Elaborating further on the history of Metro in the country, PM Modi said, "The first metro line was laid in Calcutta 35 years ago and today we have almost 675 km of Metro lines functioning in 27 cities. Of these, nearly 400 km became operational in the last 5 years and another 850 km of the metro network is under various stages of construction. In the last 5 years alone, we have approved almost 600 km of metro liness." 

Modi Congratulates Maharashtra CM Fadnavis over speedy execution of projects

While addressing the rally in Mumbai on Saturday, PM Modi congratulated Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for speedy execution of various infrastructure projects in the city. He also called Mumbai the city which has set the pace for others to follow.

PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the new Metro Bhavan which is to be built inside the Aarey Forest. The project is a controversial one as citizens, celebrities and others have opposed the cutting down of a very large number of trees. 

READ | Aarey forest: Bombay High Court seeks answers from MMRDA and MCGM