The townships that are swelling and adding to commuter chaos are those beyond the city limits, including Vasai-Virar and Kalyan-Dombivali. While the state government has come up with an elaborate plan to build a Metro network to decongest the city and ease the pressure on the lifeline that is Mumbai's local trains, hundreds of residents of Kalyan-Dombivali have approached the Chief Minister's Office and the MMRDA saying that the Metro alignment proposed via Kalyan-Taloja is an error and that it should connect via Ghansoli instead. A similar route is recommended by the Comprehensive Transportation Study of MMR, 2008.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the ground-breaking for two new Metro corridors in the region in December 2018 — Line 5 Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro and Line 9 Dahisar (East) to Mira-Bhayandar Metro. During this event, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had spontaneously announced two more Metro corridors — Dombivli to Taloja and Mira Bhayandar to Virar, responding to demands.