Mumbai: The Metro 3 line continued to be a hit on Friday, a day after the final phase of the 33.5-km underground corridor was thrown open to the public. Compared to the 156,456 passengers who took the Aqua Line on Thursday, the first day of full operations, Friday saw a ridership of 159,105 up to 9 pm, according to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL).
“During the first half of Friday, the numbers showed a significant jump in passengers,” an MMRCL official told Hindustan Times. “Ridership crossed the 55,000 mark at 11 am on Friday, as compared to 1 pm on Thursday. Likewise, 111,696 passengers travelled on Metro 3 until 6 pm, compared with 97,850 on Thursday, which is a 14% increase.”
The Vidhan Bhavan-CSMT stretch of the metro route again emerged as a popular one among commuters, so much so that there was a notable drop in the number of people taking BEST buses and shared taxis to Churchgate and CSMT from Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point, Vidhan Bhavan.
BEST officials said their daily average ridership in the last two days was just over 2.4 million, compared with over 2.5 million until last month. At present, there are around 60 bus routes in and around Cuffe Parade, Churchgate, CSMT, Vidhan Bhavan and Hutatma Chowk. While rerouting buses is an option, BEST officials said that their depleting bus fleet worries them, and they will have to plan their routes accordingly.
“Although it’s too early to say anything, we might see if there is a need to shift the bus stops around metro stations,” said a BEST official, requesting anonymity. The official added that since buses have stops every few metres, unlike the metro, in the long run, the buses will complement the metro.
Along with buses, share-taxi routes in south Mumbai might also be impacted by the Aqua Line. While there is no official data available, taxi unions claimed that they have seen a significant drop in passengers in south Mumbai since the entire Metro 3 line became operational.
“There is a drop of 20%-30% in passengers taking kaali-peeli taxis. We will be raising a demand for setting up shared taxi stands outside metro stations where they have put ‘No Parking’ boards,” said Iqbal Singh, a taxi union leader. The unions feel that there is a need for 10-15 taxis per taxi stand at the Metro 3 stations in south Mumbai.
While taxi drivers ferrying people for ₹20- ₹30 between CSMT and Churchgate have noticed the drop in passengers, a taxi union leader said that the metro could impact regular taxis used by businesspeople and traders, covering longer distances between Kalbadevi, Girgaon, Zaveri Bazaar, Lamington Road, and Grant Road.
However, transport experts feel the picture will get clearer in a few days. AV Shenoy, member of the Mumbai Mobility Forum, said: “The Metro-3 will certainly have an impact on commuting patterns, considering it runs parallel to the suburban rail lines and also connects localities that were away from railway stations. However, its real impact on BEST, taxis and autos can be gauged after a few days when travel patterns start shaping up.”
Resolving ticketing woes
Meanwhile, MMRCL has also taken measures to resolve the teething issues seen on Thursday, including digital ticketing woes and the lack of mobile connectivity at 11 south Mumbai stations, which led to long queues on Thursday. The authority has activated WhatsApp ticketing by putting up QR Codes at the metro stations’ road-level entry points.
Vodafone Idea and BSNL, the two telecom operators that provide network connectivity on Metro 3 between Aarey-JVLR and Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli, are expected to extend their services to the remaining 11-km underground corridor towards south Mumbai within a fortnight, officials said. It is still not clear when Airtel and Jio, which together command nearly 75% of the Indian market, will begin offering their services on the line.
“To encourage commuters to purchase digital tickets, we have provided WiFi connectivity to commuters. This will ensure shorter queues at ticket counters,” said an MMRCL official. “Additionally, QR codes for WhatsApp ticketing have been put up at each of the entrances of all metro stations as well as at ticketing counters. Staff have also been instructed to guide passengers standing in the queue to opt for digital ticketing modes.”
Mumbai One, the newly launched integrated public transport app for the city, has also been updated to include the 11 south Mumbai stations of the Aqua Line that were opened to the public on Thursday, officials said. The stations from Science Museum to Cuffe Parade were missing on the app on Thursday.