Mumbai opens Line 9 and Line 2B with contrasting ridership
Mumbai just opened two new Metro lines, and their first week saw very different crowds.
Line 9 (Dahisar East to Mira Road) was pretty lively with around 23,000 daily riders across four stations.
But Line 2B (Mandale to Diamond Garden), even with five stations, only saw about 4,000 people per day, so it's off to a much quieter start.
Mumbai commuters shift to digital ticketing
The low turnout on Line 2B could be because it's summer vacation, something that's also slowed down older lines lately.
For context, Lines 2A and 7 together saw more than 3 lakh passengers on weekdays in March.
Also, more commuters are ditching paper tickets for digital options; only about one-third still use paper, while thousands picked up National Common Mobility Cards in just the first week.
Ridership is expected to pick up once schools reopen and monsoon season hits.