Mumbai: Two days after Mumbai’s first underground metro service from Aarey-JVLR to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), called Aqua Line, commenced operations, it witnessed train delays and disruptions creating panic among commuters. The people faced delays of around 30 minutes while some even faced extended halts for around half-an-hour on Tuesday.
One of the commuters, Rahul, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that when he reached BKC station at around 10 am, he was informed by other people that there was no train for 30 minutes. “The train finally arrived after a 45-minute wait and there was no communication whatsoever from the authorities,” he posted.
Another X user, Amit Baxi, posted that the train in which he was travelling was stuck for 30 minutes at Sahar station. “The most interesting part was there were no updates except announcements by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) authorities seeking apologies for the delay.”
“I was travelling to work on Tuesday when at around 10.15 am the train remained stuck at Sahar station for almost 30 minutes. Me and other passengers were left with no option but to remain seated in the metro,” Baxi posted.
When contacted, an official from MMRC said, “It was a technical snag which was resolved and normal services were restored.”
Raising another issue, the founder of Watchdog Foundation, Adv Godfrey Pimenta complained about anomalies regarding the return journey timings on the Metro Line 3 tickets. “I travelled from Marol Naka Metro Station to Sahar Road on Tuesday and purchased a return journey ticket at 11.47 am.
However, the ticket stated that the return journey was valid only until 8.08 pm. Considering that Metro Line 3 operates from 6.30 am to 10.30 pm daily, and from 8.30 am to 10:30 pm on Sundays, I fail to understand why the return journey validity ends at 8.08 pm which is well before the last trip of the day. A return journey should ideally remain valid until the end of operational hours.”
In a letter to the MMRC officials, Pimenta requested to kindly address the issue and ensure that the return journey validity aligns with the operational schedule of the metro. MMRC officials didn’t comment on the issue.
The phase 1 of Metro 3 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 5. The newly-inaugurated 10 stations saw a steady stream of curious and eager commuters since 11 am on Monday when the services began. From Tuesday, the metro became operational from 6.30 am to 10.30 pm and MMRC recorded a ridership of 20,842 till 9 pm on Tuesday.
The first phase covers a critical stretch of the city, connecting key commercial and residential areas. This section of Metro Line 3 includes several major stops, such as BKC, Marol Naka, and SEEPZ, and promises to drastically cut down travel time. The launch of the Metro Line marks a significant milestone in Mumbai's transportation landscape since the new line is expected to not only reduce travel time but also decrease the burden on the city's road infrastructure.
