| India has splurged billions on metro trains. But where are the commuters? Posted by grahame at 06:37, 20th April 2026 |     |
From the BBC
India has splurged billions on metro trains. But where are the commuters?
Aqua Line is the city's new fully underground metro train connecting the old business district of Cuffe Parade to newer commercial hubs like BKC and the airport terminals in the northern suburbs. It opened last year.
The 33.5km (20.8 miles) corridor was expected to ease congestion in India's financial capital and projected to carry nearly 1.5 million passengers every day. The actual numbers are about a tenth of that, as per various estimates.
Aqua Line is the city's new fully underground metro train connecting the old business district of Cuffe Parade to newer commercial hubs like BKC and the airport terminals in the northern suburbs. It opened last year.
The 33.5km (20.8 miles) corridor was expected to ease congestion in India's financial capital and projected to carry nearly 1.5 million passengers every day. The actual numbers are about a tenth of that, as per various estimates.
The article looks at why ....
* Ticket cost
* "Infrequent" service away from the peaks
* Poor interconnections between services - not an integrated system. Long walks even at interchange stations, services on each piece of public transport siloed and not linked to others
Some of the other background information looks designed to make a point and is an effect and not a primary reason
* Trains are very quiet by the time they get to the final terminal. Yep - there are examples of buses and trains the world over which run from / through city centres and the final stop(s) are remote - "Triangle loading". Falmouth Dock or Severn Beach, anyone!
* Trains are short - 3 or 6 carriages. Well - if there's plenty of space, that makes sense
* Numbers improved by counting each leg of a connection journey as a separate trip in the stats. So what - it's not going to out people off as how they are recorded.
