In Mumbai, commuting chaos is no longer an exception, it is part of everyday life for lakhs of residents. On Friday morning, adding to the city’s long list of commuting woes, services on Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line) came to a standstill during peak office hours, leaving hundreds stranded underground amid stalled services and growing uncertainty over when operations would resume.

The disruption on the 33.5-km fully underground corridor, connecting key hubs such as BKC, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (T1 & T2), Churchgate, Cuffe Parade and Aarey JVLR, once again raised a pressing question for authorities: “For a city that depends on every minute of its commute, can Mumbai afford repeated disruptions on its most ambitious metro corridor?”

This is the second major disruption this month. On May 6, train services on the Aqua Line were hit due to a fire at T2 Airport station.

The snag, reported by commuters around 8.45 am, appeared to affect the entire Aqua Line corridor. For nearly 40 to 50 minutes, office-goers were left waiting on crowded platforms and inside halted trains as confusion mounted. Furious commuters took to social media, alleging there were no announcements about the nature of the fault or when services would resume.