Mumbai Metro 1 to get longer trains to ease overcrowding on Versova Andheri Ghatkopar corridor
Mumbai The city’s first metro corridor Versova Andheri Ghatkopar may soon have longer trains as Mumbai Metro One Private Limited MMOPL plans to extend its existing four coach rakes to six coaches. This move aims to tackle daily overcrowding experienced by nearly five lakh commuters especially during peak hours.
MMOPL has submitted a proposal to its lenders including the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited through the India Debt Resolution Company Limited to procure additional coaches. If approved the new rakes will significantly increase carrying capacity on the busy 11 kilometre stretch which currently operates 16 four coach trains.
On Monday a technical failure in one of the trains led to overcrowding at Ghatkopar and Andheri stations after a train was withdrawn from service due to underperformance. The disruption caused cancellation of trips and a build up of commuters with around 500 additional passengers accumulating at Ghatkopar alone according to officials. The situation continued for nearly 45 minutes causing long queues and delayed entry into the stations.
Currently Metro 1 operates 36 trips during peak hours with a frequency of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The current system carries around 1800 passengers per trip during peak hours and 1500 during non peak periods. However commuter demands for six coach trains have remained unaddressed since the launch of the corridor 11 years ago.
Apart from train extensions MMOPL is also considering reintroducing mixed loop services which operated short loop trips between Ghatkopar and Andheri stations during peak times. These services which catered to 88 percent of total commuters were discontinued in June due to decreased footfall at Versova DN Nagar and Azad Nagar stations which together account for 12 percent of Metro 1 ridership.
Though the mixed loop services have been paused MMOPL has continued running additional trips totaling 452 per day to maintain frequency. Officials said that operational improvements are ongoing with a focus on increasing speed and reducing headway for better service efficiency.
