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One train delay during peak hours triggers chaos at Ghatkopar station; commuters demand urgent reforms as crowding fears resurface.
MMOPL said it operates 36 trains at peak times with a frequency of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. (File)
Passengers complained of a “stampede-like situation” at Ghatkopar station of Mumbai metro rail’s Blue Line on Monday morning due to delay in services.
Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), the operator of Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova Metro Line 1, said the station witnessed heavy rush after a metro rake was withdrawn from the service due to a speed issue around 8.30 am.
“Train services were slightly delayed as one train was unable to achieve target speed and had to be withdrawn from service. However, operations are continuous and normalized,” it said in a statement.
Metro commuters fumed at the incident claiming the rush on the route had increased manifold since it was launched in 2014 and appealed to the state government and other authorities to take quick steps, including increasing rakes and coaches as well as frequency of services, to avoid a catastrophe in the future.
“For once can we not be proactive without wasting further time to wait for a stampede or catastrophe in #MumbaiMetro? The coach capacity hasn’t increased in the last 11 years. Such stagnancy in a city like Mumbai is beyond shocking!” wrote commuter Karan Jain on X.
Civic activists said Monday’s incident underscored the risks of prioritizing profit over public service and called for immediate corrective measures.
“Crazy commuter woes thanks to 1 service withdrawn tech issues with mumbai metro line 1 Stampede like situation in ghatkopar station. @Dev_Fadnavis @CMOMaharashtra act fast before lives are lost Line 1 needs 6 bogie rakes & 3 times current rakes,” wrote Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Associations on X.
Commuter Shekar Salvi took to X to state that four coach trains were unable tohandle peak hour crowds.
“Safety is at risk. Governance can’t be replaced by profit-only models. Time to put commuters before revenue,” he said on X.
In a media release issued later in the day, MMOPL said the cancellation of a single trip due to a speed issue in a metro rake caused an additional 500 commuters to accumulate at the Ghatkopar station, resulting in heavy crowding that persisted for about 45 minutes.
Mumbai Metro One said it operates 36 train trips during peak hours with a frequency of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, handling a carrying capacity of around 65,000 commuters.
“The cancellation of any trip reduces this capacity by about 1,750 passengers. Such lost trips are compensated for by inducting additional services using hot-stand-by trains,” the release said.
Efforts are on to optimize operations further by improving speed, resulting in improved headway, Mumbai Metro One said.
The operator said it is also contemplating restarting of mixed-loop services-alternate short-loop services between Ghatkopar and Andheri during peak hours.
As a long-term solution to address increasing commuter demand, the operator has submitted a proposal to its lenders National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) through India Debt Resolution Company Limited (IDRCL) seeking funds to procure additional coaches, the statement said.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: ‘Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.’ This motto c…Read More
Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: ‘Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.’ This motto c… Read More
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