The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to extend the proposed Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan monorail corridor up to Badlapur. The MMRDA has asked RITES to conduct a study of a possible route and prepare alignments for the same.

This would help connect the satellite cities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Sources said the route would include Ulhasnagar and Ambernath and boost the transport facilities in these areas, as the municipal transport units of Thane, Kalyan Dombivli and Ulhasnagar are not in good shape.

It will also bring a much-needed option to residents of townships like Bhiwandi-Nizampura, Badlapur and Ambernath. They do not have their own transport units and commuters rely on trains or Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses. From Thane to Badlapur there is no direct alternative mode of transport other than local trains.

The MMRDA has already undertaken the construction of the first corridor of the monorail, also the first in the country, from Jacob Circle to Chembur via Wadala. Work on the first link (Chembur to Wadala) is expected to end by November 2010 and the second (Wadala to Jacob Circle) by April 2011.

The municipal corporations of Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampura and Kalyan-Dombivli have sent suggestions on changes in the alignment of the second corridor of monorail. “We are studying these suggestions and will make changes as necessary to cater to the needs of people in these three areas,” said an MMRDA official.

The MMRDA also plans to connect the third corridor with the Jacob Circle-Chembur one. “The third proposed corridor from Bandra to Wadala will be connected to the first at Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar,” the officer added. The MMRDA has appointed the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System Ltd. (DIMTS), a joint venture of the Delhi Government and Infrastructure Development Finance Company, as consultants.