Aarey-Cuffe Parade Metro 3: 1 million passengers travelled in a week, daily passenger count exceeds 1.5 lakh

The ‘Colaba – Bandra – Seepz – Aarey Underground Metro 3’ route has started running at full capacity from October 9, during the Aarey – Cuffe Parade. The Aarey – Acharya Atre Chowk section of this route was not getting the desired response. But after Metro 3 started running at full capacity, the number of daily passengers has been steadily increasing. More than 1.5 lakh passengers travel on Metro 3 every day. In just a week, one million passengers have traveled on this line.

Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has completed the construction of the 33.5 km long underground metro line. The line has been put into service in three phases. The Aarey – BKC section was put into service in October 2024, the BKC – Acharya Atre Chowk section in May 2025, and the Acharya Atre Chowk – Cuffe Parade section on 9 October 2025. Although this line is known as the first and longest underground metro line in the country and can be used to travel to many places in just a few minutes, the section between Aarey and Acharya Atre Chowk was not receiving a response. When the Aarey-BKC section was put into service, approximately 20,000 passengers were travelling on this route per day. It was expected that four lakh passengers would travel on this route per day. 

So, after the Aarey-Acharya Atre Chowk route was put into service, the expected number of passengers on this route was seven and a half lakh. But in reality, the daily number of passengers was approximately 70 thousand. Due to various factors such as the wait for rickshaws, taxis, or buses after exiting the metro station, the long walk required to reach the station, and poor mobile network connectivity inside the metro corridors, Mumbaikars were initially not very enthusiastic about using the metro.

However, the number of passengers is now gradually increasing. Aarey - Metro 3 has started running at full capacity during Cuffe Parade and has been connected to Cuffe Parade, Vidhan Bhavan, CSMT, Churchgate, Girgaon, Kalbadevi. It has become possible to reach South Mumbai from the suburbs in a few minutes. Therefore, it is now being observed that Mumbaikars are gradually preferring 'Metro 3'. That is why the daily passenger count has now gone from 70,000 to over 1.5 lakh. 
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According to the information provided by MMRC, one million passengers travelled on this route between October 9 and 16. On October 9, 1 lakh 56 thousand 456 passengers traveled on Metro 3, on October 13, 1 lakh 64 thousand 877 passengers, on October 14, 1 lakh 76 thousand 197 passengers, and on October 15, 1 lakh 82 thousand 197 passengers traveled on Metro 3. The MMRC has expressed confidence that the response will increase further in the coming days and the daily passenger count will cross the two lakh mark.