MMRDA to construct pocket track at Metro Line 4 station

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to build a pocket track to allow trains to park off the mainline at the Bhakti Park Metro Line 4 station. A recent meeting convened by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis authorized MMRDA to absorb the additional cost of the siding line (pocket track).

The MMRDA predicted that the side line/pocket track would cost more than Rs 38.85 crore to build.

The Metro Line 4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavali) 'train operation plan' has been combined with three other connecting metro lines, namely Metro 11 (Wadala-CSMT), Metro 4A (Kasarvadavali-Gaimukh), and Metro 10 (Gaimukh and Shivaji Chowk, Mira Road). The pocket track has been proposed as a solution to this problem, allowing trains to park off the mainline rather than traveling all the way to the last station on the metro line.

As a result, two portal piers (built at a height above a barge) were scheduled to be built at the Bhakti Park Metro station for the pocket track. One track, though, landed in a mangrove preserve. As a result, instead of building two portal piers, the MMRDA decided to build one cantilever pier (beams extending out from piers toward each other that when combined form a bridge), which will cost an additional Rs 33.85 crore.

Metro Line 4 is currently more than 41% complete and is slated to launch in stages. The first phase, from Kapubawadi to JVLR, is projected to be completed by December of this year, and the second phase by June of 2025. Once fully operational, this line alone is estimated to carry 12.13 lakh passengers per day.

Similarly, Metro Line 4A is under construction, with more than 45 percent of the work completed and scheduled to be operational by June 2025.