Mumbai's metro network needs uniform fares, a transport app

Mumbai’s mass rapid transport system is getting a massive upgrade, the latest addition to its network being the city’s first underground metro – Metro 3 or the Aqua Line. This is the fourth metro corridor in a series of otherwise elevated metro lines that will be a game-changer in the way millions of people commute in Maximum City.

Until now, for several decades, the suburban railways bore the brunt of ferrying millions of commuters without burning a hole in people’s pockets. It continues to remain the cheapest mode of public transport in Mumbai.

However, the dynamics of commuting began to change with the arrival of the metro in Mumbai a decade ago. This was Line 1, which provided much-needed east-west connectivity. Since then, the web of metro rail has extended 59.19 km across the length and breadth of Mumbai. While it has considerably eased the daily commute, there is a pressing issue that must be addressed: the need for a uniform fare structure across the network.

The lack of uniformity in fares became a talking point ever since Metro 3 opened for commercial operations on Monday. Many feel it’s too expensive for a mass rapid transport system. Here’s what you pay on each corridor: Currently extending from BKC to Aarey-JVLR, Metro 3 costs ₹3.94 per kilometre. This is followed by Mumbai’s oldest metro, Line-1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar), which costs ₹3.51 per km. A year ago, two new metro lines – Metro-2A and Metro-7 – became operational. Shaped like a ‘U’, they form one single corridor. Individually, you would pay ₹1.61 per km on Metro 2A (Andheri West – Dahisar East), and ₹1.82 per km on Metro 7 (Gundavali – Ovaripada). However, travelling on the entire 35.1-km network brings down the per km cost to ₹1.71. The three metro corridors together ferry 7-7.50 lakh commuters daily.

With two new metro lines set to become operational next year, the need for a rationalised fare structure must be addressed with urgency.

But it’s not only the fares. In this digitally driven age, Mumbai’s metro commuters are forced to shuffle between apps when using different metro lines or switching between them, an inconvenience they can ill-afford. Commuters were dismayed when MMRCL announced a new app for the Aqua Line, called MetroConnect3. Lines 2A and 7 have another app, called Metro 1. Surprisingly, while the city’s oldest metro, Line 1, does have a digital presence – it has its own smart card which is integrated with web-based applications such as Paytm and WhatsApp – it does not have a dedicated app. The requirement is obvious – one single app for all metro lines – but there is no clarity on this for now.

The real issue, experts say, is the absence of an umbrella body to operate the web of commissioned and upcoming metro lines in Mumbai. A Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA) had, in fact, been established in 2010, with a mandate to oversee all transport infra projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). This is precisely what Mumbai’s mass transport system needed. However, the agency has made no progress towards its goal.

Then, in June 2019, it seems the state had it all mapped out. The government set up the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) as the umbrella agency to oversee all the metro corridors in the MMR. While Line 2A and Line 7 were handed over to it by the MMRDA, which had built these lines, MMMOCL has not been given charge of Metro 3. Neither could it take over the operations of Line 1, which remains under the Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One. The latter is locked in a financial stalemate with the state government.

While it’s good news all around that the Mumbai Metro is finally moving at a brisk pace, it does need to reach out to commuters more effectively. A big part of this will include not just a more seamless fare structure, but standard practices already in use around the world such as a unified pass for seamless ticketing across modes of transport. A smart card – called the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) – is currently in use across Lines 1, 2A and 7, and is expected to be integrated into Metro 3. (Paper tickets and QR code-based payments are also an option)

But Mumbai does need a card that can do more, that can cover, as in other global cities such as London, Paris and Berlin, an array of modes of mass transport including metro link, suburban trains, buses and monorails. After all, you shouldn’t have to check before you leave the house, that you are armed with the half-a-dozen passes currently required to make your way across the city.