Mumbai: City’s first metro completes 11 years, looks to expand

The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor started on June 8, 2014

Completing 11 years, ferrying 111 crore commuters, the city's first metro rail line has been an exceptional success but is now much in demand to be expanded.

"Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), India's first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) metro project, commemorates 11 years of revolutionising mobility across India's financial capital. Since starting on June 8, 2014, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor has become a symbol of safe, swift, and sustainable urban transport. With over 111 crore (1.1 billion) commuters carried to date, Mumbai Metro One has not only redefined how Mumbai moves, but also emerged as one of the country's most trusted and award-winning mass rapid transit systems," a spokesperson said.

Mumbai Metro One introduced short-loop train services between Ghatkopar and Andheri during peak hours. Its current week-day ridership is around 5,00,000, and it operates services with less than 3.5 minutes' frequency during peak hours with 444 trips.

"There is dire need to increase the number of coaches to six. Lakhs of commuters using Mumbai Metro Line 1 are badly impacted by overcrowding and poor travel experience due to decade-old capacity which hasn't been upgraded. If things don't change soon, this could lead to personal injuries and a stampede-like situation for commuters. Line 1 is the only Metro line connecting East and West of Mumbai. As Line 2A, 7 and 3 from the surrounding areas of south and north Mumbai, Dahisar to Andheri, are feeding more commuters into Line 1 now, it would be prudent to increase coaches to six," said Dhaval Shah, co-founder of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen's Association.

Operational Milestones

Total commuters carried: 111 crore (1.1+ billion)
Week-day ridership: 500,000 (highest 5.47 lakh)
Train trips operated: 12,66,973 (more than 1.2 million)
Cumulative kilometres covered: 1,45,21,256 (more than 1.45 crore / ~15 million km)
Punctuality: 99.99%
Availability: 99.96%