After metros, monorails and pod taxis, Mumbai region may get an ‘elevated bus’

Passengers getting off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train at Virar could one day board a driverless “elevated automated bus” to the Metro. The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) is considering an Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system to link the upcoming high-speed rail station to Metro Line 13.

After Metros, monorails and the proposed pod taxi, it would be yet another mode of transport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The proposed 3.1-km elevated corridor would run from Sahakar Nagar in Virar East, near the bullet train station, to the Metro station in Nalasopara, crossing the suburban railway tracks on the way.

The AGT is still at the proposal stage. It is among the ideas in a local area development plan for the 463-hectare area around the Virar station. The VVCMC is preparing the plan with its consultant, Tandon Urban Solutions Pvt Ltd (TUSPL), and a team from Japan that includes the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is involved in funding the bullet train project.

The draft plan is expected to be ready by early November, after which it will be submitted to the Maharashtra government for approval. Why Virar needs it “As a part of the development of the area falling under the influence of the bullet train station, one of the necessities is to connect it with a local metro station,” said VVCMC Commissioner Prithviraj B P.