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A record 1.15 million commuters travelled on the newly-launched 11.4-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor of the Mumbai Metro from its commissioning on June 8 to June 11.
Of the 1.15 million, 240,000 travelled on June 8, 2,92,000 on June 9, 2,97,000 on June 10 and 3,21,000 on June 11.
Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), an arm of Reliance Infrastructure and Mumbai Metro’s operator, hopes that the Metro would soon achieve a daily commuting capacity of 600,000, considering the response from Mumbaikars.
“Keeping in view the awe-inspiring response from its commuters, MMOPL is now confident that the Mumbai metro will touch the targeted average daily ridership of six lakh very soon. Within a mere 59 hours of operations, it has carried over 1 million commuters and has been placed much ahead of other metro services in the country,” a MMOPL spokesperson told Business Standard.
MMOPL, which has introduced a promotional fare of Rs 10 for a month on the Metro, has so far mopped up a revenue of Rs 1.15 crore.
A Congress minister, who represents north Mumbai in the state Assembly, admitted that the metro service had provided much relief to the residents and commuters travelling on the Andheri-Kurla road.
“Saki Naka and Asalfa village, areas known for traffic jams, are experiencing less traffic. The passengers travelling in BEST buses have benefitted a lot as the travelling time has been reduced,” the minister said.
The minister hoped that private vehicle owners would opt for the metro in large numbers, which would further reduce road traffic.
According to the MMOPL spokesman, till June 11, about 75,000 contact-less smart cards and more than 720,000 tokens had already been sold from counters. Further, the Metro service and its ancillary services such as automatic fare collection, AVTMs and TIMs had been functioning according to plan since the first day, without any major snags. He said the MMOPL had been working on a passenger educational programme to ensure safe, smooth and hassle-free use of the hi-tech system by commuters.
