Mumbai: Metro to increase services to combat crowds, commuters demand six-car trains

Mumbai Metro One will increase the daily train trips on the Versova-Ghatkopar line from today, as the crowd on the route has surged following the launch of two new lines recently. The commuters have welcomed the move, while also demanding the extension of coaches to six from existing four.

Starting Wednesday, February 1, Reliance Infrastructure-promoted Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) will run 398 trips on Blue Line 1 on weekdays, up from 380.

MMOPL will also improve train frequency during peak hours, by reducing it to 3 minutes 40 seconds from nearly 4 minutes earlier. This will help decongest Ghatkopar Metro station immensely, a spokesperson said.

Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) will run 398 trips on Blue Line 1 on weekdays, up from 380

During off-peak hours, train services will continue to be available at a frequency of 5 minutes to 8 minutes.

The Blue Line 1 ferries over 4 lakh commuters daily on weekdays, and an average of more than 1 crore commuters monthly. With the opening of Yellow (2A) and Red Metro (7) lines, daily ridership of D N Nagar and Western Express Highway increased by 8,000 and 6,000, respectively.

"Commuters from both these lines travel via Metro Blue Line 1 in off-peak direction, towards Ghatkopar, in the morning and return in off-peak direction in the evening, and thanks to that accommodating additional commuters has not been a challenge for Mumbai Metro One," the spokesperson said.

Mumbai Metro Blue Line 1 services will be available from 5.30 am from both Versova and Ghatkopar and the last train from Versova will depart at 11.20 pm and from Ghatkopar at 11.45 pm.

Also Read: IN PHOTOS: New Mumbai Metro lines 2A and 7 impacts auto rickshaw business

‘Give 2 more coaches'

Commuters welcomed the move, but asked MMOPL to increase the coaches of existing trains to six from four, so that the overall capacity goes up. "The crowd on Metro trains has been consistently increasing, first because of the closure of Gokhale Road bridge and again when two other Metro lines were integrated with this one. As the new lines settle down, the crowds will only further increase. The MMOPL's management should immediately work towards converting the four-coach trains into six-coach ones, so that the trains are able to take the load," said Karan Jotwani, Andheri resident.

In fact, the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen's Association has filed an online petition on change.org for six-coach trains. "Lakhs of commuters using Mumbai Metro Line 1 are badly impacted by overcrowding and poor travel experience due to decade-old capacity that hasn't been upgraded. If things don't change soon, this can lead to injuries and stampede-like situations. This is the only Metro line connecting east and west Mumbai. As lines 2A and 7 from North Mumbai (Dahisar to Andheri) are feeding more commuters into Line 1 and ridership has crossed 4 lakh, there is a need for urgent action. It would be prudent to increase coaches to six," said Dhaval Shah, co-founder of the association, who started the petition.