Thanks to MTHL, you can travel from Mumbai to Pune in 90 minutes

Mumbai, Jan 12: You will be soon be able to travel between Mumbai and Pune in 90 minutes thanks to the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link Bridge Link (MTHL) which will be open for traffic in November 2023, Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde said.

According to news agency PTI, at least 90 per cent work on the bridge has been completed.

Here is everything you should know about the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link bridge link:

About the MTHL:

The MTHL is a six lane 22 kilometre bridge which is said to be the longest sea bridge in India. Being implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Development Authority (MMRDA), the MTHL is expected to reduce travel time between Sewri in Central Mumbai and Chirle in Navi Mumbai. The travel time is estimated at 15 to 20 minutes.

16.5 kilometres of the bridge length is over water while the rest is over land. The cost of the project is over Rs 17,000 crore.

The project has been awarded to Larsen and Toubro and Tata Projects.

Coming soon: Mumbai to Pune in 90 minutes:

One major benefit of this bridge would be that soon it would reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 90 minutes. The project is expected to cut down travel time between Lonavla, Khandala and Mumbai by 90 minutes.

Currently the roads in the Nhava Sheva area of Navi Mumbai is congested and vehicles spend over 40 minutes during the peak hours. Using Larsen and Toubro and Tata Projects MTHL, the vehicles can can a 1.5 kilometre detour and bypass the traffic.

This would be beneficial for frequent traveller from Mumbai to Pune. The P D'Mello Road-Freeway-Sion-Panvel Expressway-Mumbai-Pune Expressway route is likely-MTHL, onto Mumbai-Pune Expressway tthrough Chirle passing under-construction Navi Mumbai International airport route.

New toll system:

The expected number of vehicles to ply on this bridge would be 70,000 vehicles a day. Officials have said that MTHL will be the first to have the Open Road Tolling (ORT) system, which was first used in Singapore.

The ORT eliminates toll booths and will instead have only a toll plaza which can identify passing vehicles and facilitate electronic collection of the toll amount. There is no need for cash of other payments on hand and this will allow the vehicles to use the bridge without needing to stop for the toll.