Passengers using the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai will have direct access to the Aqua Line metro station through an underground pedestrian subway. The 365-meter-long pathway will ease movement and provide easy access to two modes of public transit. The subway will start from platform number 1 of CSMT and end at Azad Maidan metro station. Access to the subway will require an access card. The cost of construction will be shared by the Maharashtra government and Indian Railways. The subway will include features such as travelators, lifts, escalators, refreshment sections, and toilet blocks.
Mumbai: Passengers of Central Railway (CR) using the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) will get direct access to the Aqua Line metro station of the underground Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3.
Officials from the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) said the state government has approved an underground pedestrian subway from CSMT which will connect the metro station.
This 365-meter-long pathway will not only ease the movement of passengers but also provide easy access to two modes of public transit. The subway will start from platform number 1 of CSMT which will pass under the Himalaya Bridge, ending at Azad Maidan where the CSMT metro station is being constructed.
So, unless a passenger is a commuter of Central Railway or Metro-3, they will not be able to use this subway as it would require punching or swiping their access card into the machine for entering the underground subway. The MMRCL spokesperson said, “The state government has approved an underground access-controlled pedestrian subway which will be constructed by us. We will work out its engineering and technical feasibility. Its cost shall be shared by the Maharashtra government and the Indian Railway”. As the project is still in its nascent stage, MMRCL officials said it will be difficult to provide an approximate cost of construction, the probable date of starting the work and the deadline. This subway will also have travelators similar to the Mumbai airport. Other features will include lifts, escalators, refreshment sections, toilet blocks etc.
Authorities said the underground pathway connecting the two stations will benefit thousands of people daily in their movement in switching over modes of public transit.
According to the expected design, this underground subway will start from platform 1 end where the Harbour line exists at CSMT station, cross the road under the Himalaya Bridge, take the route ahead somewhere under the Azad Maidan police station and finally end at Azad Maidan metro station of Aqua Line-3.
Once this happens, people need not come on the road to reach the railway station or the metro station. In 1999, the CSMT subway connecting the railway station was built on an area of 2870 sq meters at a cost of around ₹15 crore. Authorities said access control gates will prevent hawkers and vendors from occupying the floor unlike what we see at the CSMT subway at present.