More than 2 lakh passengers are travelling inside Metro-1 however complaints are seen on social media that Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) aren't checking for double vaccine certificates. The MMOPL claims that they have reached 45% of pre Covid capacity and that onus of being vaccinated lies with the commuters.
The state government has made it mandatory for only the fully vaccinated to travel in public transport and they should be checked by the relevant authorities. The transport experts claim that at ticket booking offices of Metro stations, passengers are issued tickets however not everyone is asked for their fully vaccinated certificates.
Few days ago, there were complaints as well put up on social media about the rush at metro stations and inside metro trains. When asked about it, MMOPL authorities claim that onus of being vaccinated is on commuters, those who have taken both doses should travel.
"While ticketing, we are checking vaccination status wherever possible. Wearing of mask is compulsory and we are not allowing any commuter to enter paid area of the station without mask. Random checking of the same is also being carried out inside train and stations," said a MMOPL official.
Meanwhile the ridership of Mumbai Metro Line 1 running between Ghatkopar and Versova, improved with highest post pandemic ridership of 2.05 lakh on December 14. They expect it to cross 2.25 lakh by this month end. The ridership is around 45 percent of pre-Covid ridership which was at 4.55 lakh on weekdays.
According to an official, during pandemic, Mumbai Metro-1 remained non-operational for 211 days from March 22 to October 18 in 2020. After resumption of services on Day one, Metro-1 registered a ridership of 12,738 only and gradually grew to reach over 1 lakh on weekdays during February – March 2021.
Due to restrictions imposed during the second wave of Covid (April – May 2021), weekday ridership of Mumbai Metro-1 dropped below 50,000. With relaxation in travel norms and removal of restrictions, ridership started to improve.
Currently, Metro services are available between 6.30 am and 11.15 pm. While the first train from Versova is at 6.30am, from Ghatkopar also it is at 6.30am and the last train from Versova is at 10.30 pm and from Ghatkopar it is at 10.55 pm. They are currently running 298 trips on weekdays with service frequency of four minutes during peak hours and 6-10 minutes during off-peak hours.
They also tied up with Cashfree Payments (Cashfree) to enable online payment for metro passengers. Passengers of Mumbai Metro can now purchase, recharge, and avail individual tickets using Cashfree Payments’ QR code, thus promoting increased digitisation of the services, apart from cashless transactions. Available at all 12 stations on Metro Line 1, passengers can use any UPI app such as WhatsApp, Gpay, Bhim, Phonepe, to scan the Cashfree Payments’ QR code and complete the payment.
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