Mumbai Metro’s TBM Surya-2 Records Breakthrough at CSMT
Moments ago, Tunnel Boring Machine Surya-2 operated by Larsen & Toubro – Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company JV arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on Mumbai Metro’s 33.5 km Line-3 (Aqua Line).
This was Surya-2’s 4th (and final) breakthrough, and L&T-STEC JV’s 7th (and penultimate) breakthough for the 4.25 km Package UGC-01’s tunnels between Cuffe Parade and CSMT. Overall, this was Line-3’s 37th of 42 planned TBM breakthroughs.
This Robbins Crossover XRE TBM had recorded a breakthrough in October 2020 at the southern-end of Hutatma Chowk Station’s 233 meter NATM-mined tunnel and then tunneled right through it to get towards its northern-end. It was then re-commissioned for its 4th assignment on January 2, 2021 to build the 556 meter long down-line tunnel towards CSMT.
With this development, here’s the status of package UGC-01 between Cuffe Parade and CST / CSMT stations where 1 final breakthrough is pending, also at CST. The team is aiming to wrap that up in May-end.
This table is best viewed on a desktop device –
| TBM | Line | From | To | Distance | Status |
| 1 | Up | Cuffe Parade | Vidhan Bhavan | 1128m | Completed |
| 1 | Up | Vidhan Bhavan | Churchgate | 498m | Completed |
| 1 | Up | Churchgate | Hutatma Chowk | 649m | Completed |
| 1 | Up | Hutatma Chowk | CST | 551m | In Progress |
| 2 | Down | Cuffe Parade | Vidhan Bhavan | 1254m | Completed |
| 2 | Down | Vidhan Bhavan | Churchgate | 481m | Completed |
| 2 | Down | Churchgate | Hutatma Chowk | 653m | Completed |
| 2 | Down | Hutatma Chowk | CST | 556m | Completed (this post!) |
Line-3’s depot issues have still not been resolved with the Bombay High Court yet to decide whether the saltpan land identified in Kanjurmarg – for housing a mega depot catering to different lines – belongs to the state or Centre.
That said, Line-3 now has just 3 TBMs actively tunneling from an all time high of 17. A total of 37 breakthroughs have been recorded so far with the following 5 pending:
| Package | Section | Status & Distance |
| UGC-01 | Hutatma Chowk – CST (up-line) | 248/408 rings completed (551m, In Progress) |
| UGC-03 | Science Museum – Mahalaxmi (up-line) | 419/752 rings completed (1118m, In Progress) |
| UGC-03 | Mahalaxmi – Mumbai Central (up-line) | 837m, Not Started |
| UGC-03 | Science Museum – Mahalaxmi (down-line) | 505/752 rings completed (1136m, In Progress) |
| UGC-03 | Mahalaxmi – Mumbai Central (down-line) | 830m, Not Started |
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– TMRG
