Passengers of the new metro lines are grappling with names such as Lower Malad and Pahadi; ask authorities to add actual names in brackets
On Friday, both lines were thrown open to the public at 4 pm, following which many commuters travelled on both the corridors. Pic/Satej Shinde
While there is no doubt that the newly inaugurated metro line 2A and 7 is helping residents with a faster commute, some people travelling along the 2A corridor feel that some stations should be renamed. They get confused when faced with names such as Oshiwara, Lower Oshiwara, Pahadi, Lower Malad etc.
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On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase 2 of the metro line 2A and 7. On Friday, both lines were thrown open to the public at 4 pm, following which many people travelled on both the corridors. Many commuters praised MMRDA, and the government for starting the services.
According to MMRDA officials, as per data till 8 pm on Friday, as many as 28,381 passengers had travelled on the entire line 7, while 35,684 had travelled on line 2A. On Thursday, a total of 14,675 passengers travelled on line 7 and 16,401 used line 2A for their day’s commute.
Also Read: Mumbai Metro 2A and 7: Check timings, full schedule and fare
On Friday, a total of 236 trips were scheduled and performed without any delay or cancelled trips. The newly inaugurated metro stations on phase 2 of metro line 2A are Valnai, Malad west, Lower Malad, Pahadi Goregaon, Goregaon West, Oshiwara, Lower Oshiwara, Andheri West.
During mid-day’s visit on the ground, we realised that many commuters travelling along metro line 2A, between Andheri West metro station and Dahanukarwadi metro station, were getting confused because of station names.
Karan Jotwani, 44, who travelled along the metro 2A corridor, said, “My wife and I had to go to Infinity Malad. At the ticket counter, everyone was enquiring about the destination. If the MMRDA loves the idea of upper and lower, the least they can do is add the proper names in a bracket, for example, Infiniti Mall or Inorbit Mall.”
Anika Nadkarni, 35, who travelled along metro line 2A said, “A lot of my time was wasted in asking about names. Instead of Lower Oshiwara and Oshiwara, the station simply should have been called Adarsh nagar.”