Mumbai’s first underground metro, the Aqua Line 3, has clocked a staggering 12,82,819 passenger journeys in its very first week of operations, according to official ridership figures released on Thursday.
The Aqua Line’s first full week, from 9 October (Thursday) to 16 October (Thursday), saw ridership climb steadily after the inaugural rush.
Opening day counted 1,56,456 passengers, which surged past 1.59 lakh on Friday before dipping to 1.39 lakh on Saturday and 1.21 lakh on Sunday — a typical weekend drop seen across most transit systems worldwide.
Monday onwards, however, the story changed. As office crowds discovered the convenience of the new underground line, ridership spiked to 1,64,877 on 13 October, rising further to 1,76,182 on Tuesday, touching 1,82,197 on Wednesday, and peaking at 1,82,461 on Thursday, the line’s highest so far.
“Mumbai waited nearly two decades for its first underground metro. These numbers show how quickly the system has been embraced, not just as novelty, but as necessity,” a city-based transport expert.
Commuters, meanwhile, are calling it a “game-changer”. Office goer Meera Nair, who switched from overcrowded buses to the Aqua Line, said her journey time had halved.
“There’s no pushing, no waiting endlessly at bus stops. It feels like Mumbai has entered a new era,” she said.
Mid-Day compared the first week ridership of all the Metro Lines launched in the city so far.
Comparison with other metro first week rides
When compared with the opening week performance of Mumbai’s other metro corridors, Aqua Line 3 sits squarely in the middle.
Metro 1 (Blue Line), the city’s very first metro launched in 2014, had recorded 25.46 lakh passengers in its debut week, while the more recent Metro 2A/7 (Yellow and Red Lines) notched up 10 lakh passenger count.
With ridership expected to stabilise and grow as the novelty wears off, planners believe the Aqua Line 3 could easily become the city’s most crucial mass transit artery.
First week ridership:
*Blue Line Metro 1: 10 lakh
*Red Line/Yellow Lines 7 /2A: 25.46 lakh
*Aqua Line Metro 3: 12.82 lakh
Weekly ridership Aqua Line 3
Thu, 9 Oct- 1,56,456
Fri, 10 Oct- 1,59,105
Sat, 11 Oct- 1,39,822
Sun, 12 Oct- 1,21,719
Mon, 13 Oct- 1,64,877
Tue, 14 Oct- 1,76,182
Wed, 15 Oct- 1,82,197
Thu, 16 Oct- 1,82,461
Total (first 8 days): 12.82 lakh
Metro One (Elevated, 2014)
Day 1: 2,17,229
Day 2: 2,91,015
Day 3: 2,97,190
Day 4: 3,10,020
Day 5: 3,09,047
Day 6: 3,09,612
Day 7: 3,82,376
Day 8: 4,29,842
Total (first 8 days): 25.46 lakh
