24 additional services on Metro 2A, 7

24 additional services have been added to Mumbai Metro lines 2A and 7 to meet growing demand, totaling 284 daily services.

Mumbai: If you’re one of the 200,000-odd Mumbaiites who travel by Metro lines 2A (Dahisar West-Andheri West) and 7 (Dahisar-Gundavali) daily, here’s some good news.

Navi Mumbai, India - Nov. 17, 2023:Commuters board Metro rail from Belapur Metro Station, after Line no. 1 from Belapur to Pendhar was opened for public at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, India, on Friday, November 17, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

The Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) announced on Thursday that 24 services will be added to the routes starting Friday, taking the total number of daily services to 284.

The decision was taken to cater to growing demand, especially during the monsoon. Earlier this month, Metro 2A and 7 clocked a record 260,471 passengers in a single day. On average, around 190,000 commuters use the two 20 km-long metro lines daily.

“With a seven-minute headway, 24 additional services have been introduced. We have added one additional rake to our fleet of 22 rakes, while there are three metro rakes on standby,” said an MMMOCL official.

Meanwhile, passengers of Metro 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar) are complaining about overcrowding, demanding more services and an increase in capacity from four-car to six-car rakes. On Thursday, a signal failure at Ghatkopar station led to a heavy rush.

“There was so much crowd, and trains were running late,” said K Mistry, a resident of Ghatkopar. “Entering the platforms from the fare collection gates was taking a lot of time as well. It’s been a decade, yet the services have not improved much.”

Metro 1 completed 10 years earlier this month. The route has ferried 970 million commuters across 1.1 million services. Metro 1 has 16 trains in its fleet, which have clocked nearly 126 million km in the last decade.