Mira Bhayandar gets its first metro as 2 new lines and pod taxis launch

April 6, 2026 Headlinesnews

3 min readMumbaiApr 6, 2026 09:03 PM IST

After years of delays, two new Metro stretches open in Mumbai on Tuesday, giving Mira Bhayandar its first Metro connection and adding a fifth operational line to the city’s rapidly expanding urban rail network. Here is what to expect.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, will kick off proceedings at Dahisar at 10 am. The inauguration covers four stations on Line 9, running 4.5 km from Dahisar to Kashigaon on Mira Road, and five stations on Line 2B, covering 5.53 km from Diamond Garden in Chembur to Mandale.

Tuesday will also see the launch of tunnelling works for the Thane-Borivali Twin Tunnel project and a ground-breaking ceremony for the pod taxi project at Bandra Kurla Complex.

If you live in Mira Bhayandar

Line 9 is the big one for residents of Mira Bhayandar, an area that has until now had no Metro connectivity at all. The four stations opening Tuesday, Dahisar, Pandhurang Wadi, Miragaon and Kashigaon, run along the Western Express Highway, offering a faster and cheaper alternative to the perpetually congested Dahisar checknaaka.

Commuters travelling to and from Mira Road will not need to change trains to connect with Line 7, which runs between Dahisar East and Andheri East. At Dahisar, there is also an interchange with Line 2A for those heading to Andheri West, and at Gundavali, commuters can switch to Line 1. A future connection to Line 6 at JVLR is also planned. Authorities expect between 50,000 and one lakh people to use the line from day one.

The remaining four stations on Line 9 are expected to open within six months. The line will eventually extend further as Line 7A, connecting to the international airport, though that is not expected before 2027.

If you live in eastern suburbs

Five stations of Line 2B open Tuesday, making it the fifth metro line in Mumbai. The stations, Diamond Garden, Shivaji Chowk, BSNL Metro, Mankhurd and Mandale, span 5.53 km through Chembur and into Mandale in the east.

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Of these, Mankhurd is the only station with a direct interchange with the suburban railway network. The MMRDA hopes to operationalise the Chembur station, which connects with the monorail, once that service resumes in the coming months.

Given the limited stretch and connectivity at this stage, ridership is expected to build gradually. The real transformation will come when the full 23.643 km line across 20 stations is complete, connecting Mankhurd through Chembur, Kurla, BKC, Bandra, Khar and all the way to Andheri West. That deadline is 2027.

The bigger picture

Once complete, Line 2B will be one of the most significant east-west corridors in Mumbai’s metro network, with interchanges with Line 3 at BKC, Line 1 at DN Nagar, and with the suburban railway and Line 4 at Kurla. Daily ridership on the full line is projected at 8.9 lakh, rising to 10.5 lakh by 2031. The line’s total cost is Rs 10,986 crore.

For Line 9, daily ridership across the full corridor is projected at 11.12 lakh by 2031, with a combined project cost of Rs 6,607 crore for Lines 9 and 7A together.

Sabah Virani is a journalist with The Indian Express’ Mumbai bureau, covering infrastructure, housing and urban issues. In the realms of technical fields, she brings out human stories and the pace of change ongoing in the city.

Expertise

Specialised Role: Tracking infrastructure in Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Sabah’s reporting tracks progress on various projects. From bridges to metros, she mixes technical details with resourceful information.

Core coverage areas: Sabah keeps a close eye on the activities of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and its projects across the MMR, including the metros, road projects, bridges, the bullet train, pod taxi, its role as a planning authority, and more. She also watches for developments from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) and the GoM’s Urban Development department.

Housing: Sabah also tracks developments in housing, particularly the workings of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). She also keeps a keen watch on the big redevelopment projects ongoing in Mumbai, including the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, Motilal Nagar, Kamathipura, BDD Chawl redevelopment, among others.

Occasionally, she reports on the environment, biodiversity, waste, arts and culture.

Experience: Prior to working for the Indian Express, Sabah covered the municipality, civic issues and miscellaneous for Hindustan Times. Before that, she covered all things Mumbai for the online publication Citizen Matters. She has also worked as an editorial assistant at FiftyTwo.in.

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