After waiting for 21 years, Ulwe residents were finally able to board their very own local train yesterday, as the 12.4-km Nerul-Belapur-Seawoods-Kharkopar suburban railway line was thrown open. Residents only had buses to rely on earlier, and would have to spend a minimum of 30 minutes to get to Belapur station.

The sore lack of public transport is why many citizens did not move there despite buying homes. Yesterday's inauguration, by Railway minister Piyush Goyal and CM Devendra Fadnavis, marks the completion of phase 1 of the line, with phase 2 — a 14.3-km stretch from Kharkopar to Uran — set to finish by 2020. The entire 26.7-km Nerul-Belapur-Seawoods-Uran line, once completed, will provide direct access to Uran town, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Greater Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).