Construction has officially started on the Thane Internal Ring Metro Project, raising hopes among residents of meaningful relief from the city's chronic traffic woes, The Free Press Journal reported .
Once the network of 22 metro stations is up and running, Thane will become the first city in Maharashtra to have its entire urban footprint stitched together through a metro corridor.
The city has long battled severe road congestion, especially along Ghodbunder Road, in Old Thane and around Wagle Estate.
While Thane leans heavily on both rail and road for daily commute, fast-developing pockets such as Ghodbunder and New Thane sit at considerable distance from the suburban railway grid.
This forces large volumes of commuters onto roads to reach Thane station, piling pressure on arterial stretches and choking traffic across the city.
Rapid urban expansion has also outpaced the city's road capacity, leading to persistent jams on its narrower internal lanes.
The Ring Metro is expected to ease this load by linking directly with key residential and commercial pockets.
The 22 stations on the alignment include Rayla Devi, Wagle Circle, Lokmanya Nagar Bus Depot, Shivai Nagar, Neelkanth Terminal, Gandhinagar, Dr Kashinath Ghanekar Natyagruha, Manpada, Dongripada, Vijay Nagari, Waghbil, Waterfront, Patlipada, Azad Nagar Bus Depot, Manorama Nagar, Kolshet, Balkum Naka, Balkum Pada, Rabodi, Shivaji Chowk, Thane Junction and New Thane.
Stops at Rayla Devi, Wagle Chowk, Lokmanya Nagar Bus Depot and Thane Junction are slated to function as major interchange nodes, plugging the metro into suburban rail and bus networks.
Densely packed neighbourhoods like Lokmanya Nagar, Rabodi and New Thane, currently dependent on shared autos and TMT buses, stand to gain faster commute options and direct access to job hubs. Stations at Kolshet, Balkum Naka, Wagle Circle, Lokmanya Nagar and Rayla Devi will improve links to business districts.
Balkum Naka is poised to become a critical junction, connecting with the upcoming Metro 5 corridor to Bhiwandi.
Phase 1 of Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro Line 5, covering a 12.20 km Thane to Bhiwandi stretch, is 95 per cent complete and likely to open in 2026.
Once functional, the Ring Metro is projected to slash intra-city travel time by 50 to 75 per cent and reduce strain on Ghodbunder Road and the Eastern Express Highway.
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