Mumbai Metro 3: It’s a whole new underground world

Signage access to Marol station of Line 1

Massive is one word that comes to mind while negotiating the Mumbai Metro Aqua Line stations, most of them are a quarter a km, and the BKC is the largest at nearly half a km. The entry exits have been made at strategic locations everywhere but the maze of escalators, staircases, and long walkways as one gets off the train will initially continue to create confusion for commuters.

Also, some of the Aqua Metro stations like Santacruz Metro, and Bandra Colony have generic names and many on Day 1 failed to connect with the existing traditional names and were unclear where exactly, which side of the suburb they open up for example BKC station is the Income Tax junction with entry exits near MMRDA office side and near Collector's office approach road.

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Two stations, T1 and Santacruz also have direct access on the Western Express Highway with one T1 gate opening near Hotel Aircraft International (opposite Sahara Star) and Santacruz Metro opening near Regency Hotel on the Western Express Highway near Kalina-Vakola flyover.

Here's what we gathered on Day 1

Aarey (JVLR): This is the only over-ground station on the line. It offers a single entry/exit point and provides access to key areas nearby, including JVLR, SEEPZ Office, and the upcoming Pink Line 6. The ticketing, entry/exit, and train platform are on the same floor. This station also has the Aarey crashed in the backyard.
Suggestion: Commuters suggested that the station needed better last-mile connectivity as it is difficult to crossover JVLR road and a skywalk across the road would be helpful.

Marol Naka: This station has four entries/exits and they are in sync with the Metro Blue Line 1 (Versova-Ghatkopar) line, but one needs to come out on the road, walk a few metres on the footpath to change the lines. There is no internal connection. The four entry/exits of the station are between Blue Line 1's Techno Marol Naka and Chakala stations. The entry/exit gate A1 of Aqua Line is the closest to Gate 5 of Line 1. Line 1 has customised the escalator direction of Gate 5 at Marol up and down as per rush hour timings. Gate B1 of Aqua Line is a few metres walk away from Gate 1A of Line 1 Techno Marol Naka station on the footpath of Fleet House building.
Suggestion: Commuters suggested that they should build a paid area walkway to connect both stations

Aarey (JVLR) is the only road-level station on the line

T2- T2: has a temporary ramp to the main road on two sides, one near the Sahar Cargo complex road and bus stop outside the airport and the other near Sahar police station road on the other side. But, this is a very big almost over half a km walk just to exit or enter the station, not advisable for senior citizens as yet. Works of two other metro stations (Red Line 7 and Gold Line 8) were in progress on either side of the temporary walkway. The station has the tallest escalator in the country at 21m.

Suggestion: Commuters complained that no one at the airport guided them to this new station. Authorities said this was a temporary arrangement but commuters said it could be managed in a better way.

Marol Naka station has four entries/exits

T1- T1: has two entry exits, one towards Vile Parle station/Milan Flyover and the other towards the domestic airport, but again a long, long walkway. The entry/exit of Vile Parle station opens directly on the western express highway with an opening near Hotel Aircraft International (opposite Sahara Star). The other access opens near the airport.

Suggestion: Another long, long walk and commuters suggested travellators so that they can commute easily with luggage.

Access skywalk of T2 station is still under construction

BKC: A massive station of over 400m has several entries/exits from one side of BKC to another- from MMRDA office end to near Collector's office approach road. The station works near the Collector's office approach road are yet to complete and the escalators were not functional. The station has a confusing layout of entry/exit and on Day 1, it was porous with anyone walking anywhere in and out of paid areas.
Suggestion: Improving navigation signboards in the concourse of this large station would help in a big way. Also putting such panels at the station level will help in the quick dispersal of a crowd of passengers.

Day 1 problems
● A 12.02 train at T2 in the BKC direction faced a glitch and its doors did not open for a minute or so because the train doors and platform doors did not sync. The train had to be backed and the doors opened only after it synced.
● There were issues of server failure leading to ticketing delays for some time, but overall the operations remained smooth.
● There was also a signalling glitch which was put right before it could affect in a big way. At Santacruz station, the turnstiles of entry/exit A of Maratha Colony failed and commuters had to give entry and exit manually.
● No digital payments as QR payment scanners did not work. Only cash was accepted, leading to hassles of change.

What's not there
The ticketing machines only accept cash. There is no provision for digital payments. The Aqua trains do not have phone charging facilities like the ones in Yellow Line 2A & Red Line 7 trains. The Aqua trains also do not have provisions for bicycles like the ones in Yellow Line 2A & Red Line 7 trains.

General suggestions
The stations need local area maps and clarity on entry/exits and their direction. The present signage is in small font and is ignored by commuters.

400 m
Length of the station at BKC

Four
No. of entries and exits at Marol Naka station