Plans are in motion for a pedestrian tunnel network branching out from the Mumbai Metro 3 Aqua Line. These tunnels will link the Metro network to office complexes in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Nehru Planetarium, and the Worli promenade. The Aqua Line has called in for design and project management consultancy for the construction of these underground subways/vestibules connecting the Science Centre and BKC stations to various buildings in the vicinity. Together, these planned tunnels add up to nearly 3 km of underground pedestrian infrastructure.
Vedant Mhatre, programme director of the Walking Project, told mid-day, “Pedestrian subways are welcome, but they should be much more than just corridors connecting two points. We need to take cues from cities like Tokyo. At Shinjuku Station, you can step out and walk through an extensive network of underground spaces that stretch for kilometres. These aren’t just passageways — they’re active public environments. Along the way, you pass retail stores, grocery shops, and restaurants. If we can replicate even a fraction of that scale in Mumbai, we could address multiple challenges at once: boosting ridership, creating much-needed space for retail activity like street vending, while also generating non-farebox revenue.”
Voices
Vedant Mhatre, Programme director, Walking Project
‘Well-designed subways could be connected to underground hawker markets built in partnership with BMC, supporting livelihoods while making pedestrian routes safer and more engaging even late at night. They could connect Metro stations with key destinations or bridge critical connectivity gaps like the one between Dadar Metro and Dadar railway station with an underground corridor, which could also branch into nearby destinations’
AV Shenoy, Senior transport expert
‘Utilisation will depend on the distance to be travelled inside the tunnel. For distances longer than 250 metres, people will be unwilling to use them due to claustrophobia, fear of stampede, etc. Adequate measures need to be provided for eviction of people trapped inside the tunnels in an emergency. Escalators/lifts need to be provided at every entry/exit as Metro stations are 10-25 metres below. Security, fail-safe adequate lighting, and ventilation also need to be provided.’
Jagdeep Desai, Architect and academician
‘If the tunnels are kept clean, well-lit, ventilated, and secured by guards, they — like the skywalks — may prove safer for pedestrians than on road crossings or road overbridges’
Jitendra Gupta, Citizens’ Transport Committee
‘Any infrastructure project should be welcomed as it could improve the present pathetic pedestrian walkway situation. Such projects will work if they save time’
Transit-oriented development
Besides these tunnels, the areas under Metro stations are introducing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) rules in the zones that are expected to see heavy Metro footfall once.
>> Under the policy, developers can build more on their plots by availing additional Floor Space Index (FSI) of up to 100 per cent. In return, they must pay a premium pegged at 50 per cent of the ready reckoner rate
>> The developers will have to physically connect their buildings to Metro stations by constructing underground walkways to station entry points at their own cost
>> To ensure compliance, the government has added a strict condition: buildings will not receive occupation certificates unless these Metro connections are completed
About the walkways
>> From the Science Centre Metro station, two major pedestrian tunnels have been proposed — one stretching approximately 1.1 km to the Worli promenade via the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, and the other, a shorter 500-metre connection to the Nehru Planetarium
>> From BKC Metro station, an underground link of 1.4 km is planned to connect with upcoming High-Speed Rail terminal near Diamond Bourse
>> MMRCL has prepared a Detailed Project Report for underground direct access connections/vestibules from the Science Centre and BKC Metro stations to various properties
1600M
Approximate length of pedestrian tunnels branching out of Science Centre station
