Mumbai: The closure of Gokhale bridge– which provided easy connectivity between the east and west sides of Andheri– has led to a surge in people opting for Metro 1 by almost 20% to cross over the suburban railway tracks.
Figures shared by the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), the special purpose vehicle operating and maintaining the 11.4-km long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar blue line, showed that till 5 pm, the overall ridership increased by around 11,000 passengers, compared to last Monday.
Ridership increase may possibly touch up to 25,000
“Ridership of stations to the west of Andheri, namely Versova, D N Nagar and Azad Nagar improved by 17%. Ridership of Azad Nagar Metro alone improved by 26%,” said an MMOPL spokesperson.
A source shared that the numbers will be more if the evening passenger count is also included. The ridership increase may possibly touch up to 25,000, including the evening rush hour. Likewise, the surge in percentage terms to cross the railway tracks may even touch up to 20%.
In the days and weeks to come, the ridership may improve further with people switching over from their usual transport modes to the Metro rail. “Better crowd management is the need of the hour at Andheri Metro Station as it becomes excessively crowded during peak hours. Urgent measures are required. It will be better if Metro services operate with higher frequency to clear the rush,” said Rishi Aggarwal, a frequent commuter.
Last week, The Free Press Journal had reported on the possibility of increase in the ridership on this Metro line. The MMOPL spokesperson had shared that they anticipate ridership to increase by around 20,000 per day after the closure of Gokhale bridge. Standby Metro rakes might be operated, if required.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
