Urban immobility: Why the Mumbai Metro is failing to take off

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two metro lines in Mumbai in 2023, Yaakshi Dave thought the sweat and grind of her commute to the office would end.

The 21-year-old graphic designer eagerly hopped on to the swanky coaches of the metro, hoping to travel 15 km in the city’s western suburbs in air-conditioned bliss.

But mid-way in the journey, she found that not only did she have to change from one metro line to the other, she had to exit the station and navigate dense traffic to do so.

The two metro lines did not intersect. There was no interchange station.

For 23 minutes of air-conditioned metro travel, Dave had to walk a total of 20 minutes – to get to the metro station and to switch lines. Tired of the exertion, she gave up on metro travel and went back to commuting by bus.

She is not the only one. Data shows Mumbai commuters are staying away from the metro network, belying hopes that it would take the load off local trains and ease traffic on the roads.

Lines 2A and 7 between Andheri and Dahisar, for instance, have only reached 2.05 lakh ridership per day – 25% of the projected ridership, data till mid-June shows.

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