Mumbai Metro Line 3: Allow access to Metro 3 via car depot, say commuters; watch video

The Jogeshwari-Vikroli Link Road, from where commuters can access the Aarey Metro station, on Tuesday evening. PIC/Ranjeet Jadhav

Accessing the Aarey Metro station is proving a challenge for Aarey Milk Colony residents as its entry point is located on the Jogeshwari-Vikroli Link Road (JVLR), about 5-6 km from their area, and autos are hard to come by.

Residents said finding a rickshaw at Royal Palms in Aarey Milk Colony is tough in the afternoon and evening. During peak hours, the journey can take up to half an hour. Locals had expected to access the Aarey Metro station from Picnic Point, where the metro line's car depot has been established.

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"We had assumed we could access the station from the road near Picnic Point in Aarey, but after its opening, we realised that while the station's name is Aarey, residents actually need to travel about 5-6 km to reach it. Additionally, it's challenging to find rickshaws from Aarey or Royal Palms to the Metro station due to the distance," said Royal Palms resident Rishab Aditya.

Aarey residents have two routes to reach the Aarey Metro station by road. One option is to take Aarey Road toward the L&T Junction via Filterpada and then get to the JVLR. This route is approximately 10 km long and can take 30 to 45 minutes during morning and evening peak hours.

Another way to reach Aarey station or SEEPZ station is to take the section of Aarey Road from Picnic Point to Marol Police Camp (the Marol Maroshi Road). From there, commuters can either head to Marol Naka Metro station, which is about 7.5 km from Royal Palms, or use Marol Maroshi Road to access the SEEPZ Metro station, located 7.8 km away. Both routes typically take 30 to 45 minutes during morning and evening peak hours.

The quickest route to Aarey Metro station is to take Marol Maroshi Road, alight at the BSES bus stop on Marol Maroshi Road and then use the public bridge leading to JVLR. The station is about 600 metres away from the bus stop. However, during a recent visit, mid-day found the bridge to be in poor condition. Additionally, the footpath along JVLR is also in disrepair, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road.

"The authorities should have avoided naming the station JVLR Aarey as it creates confusion. Only after its inauguration did we realise that the Metro is of no use to us as the station is not at all in Aarey Milk Colony but on the JVLR. I want to appeal to the authorities to find a solution and provide Aarey residents access to the Metro station via the car depot," said Sunil Kumar, Aarey resident and chairman of Navkshitij Charitable Trust Mumbai.

Manoj Rathod, a Goregaon resident who travelled from Bandra Kurla Complex to JVLR Aarey Metro station, said, "The Mumbai Metro Line 3 will prove beneficial to the commuters once it is completely operational. However, the authorities should have planned a foot overbridge or at least a pedestrian signal for people to cross the JVLR."

This correspondent also saw that the footpath along the eastbound stretch of the JVLR did not have adequate streetlights. Pedestrians had to risk their lives crossing the busy road. Also, when we came out of the station there was no rickshaw available but there was a BEST bus stop a few
metres away.