Back in 2014, BEST had launched a series of buses in and around Andheri (East) called Metro Pheri to serve as feeder routes to various stations along Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. Unfortunately, they pretty much ran empty.
Now, in what seems like a resurgent comeback for BEST, they have started a new route that would act as a feeder for the Metro, this time in the West.
BEST announced the launch of A-260 connecting Oshiwara Depot/Goregaon Depot with Indian Oil Nagar (D N Nagar Metro Station).
As mentioned above, the bus stops at Green Park, Millat Nagar, Lokhandwala Junction (Aai Tuljabhavai Chowk) and Lakshmi Industrial Estate. The odd thing is that the bus doesn’t stop at Monginis Cake Company/Citimall where A-235 (and formerly A-242) used to terminate and A-210 has a stop. The junction is also a major starting point for share autos heading for both Andheri Station and the DN Nagar Metro Station.
Along with this, the realignment of A-251 from Versova Yari Road Bus Station to Seven Bungalows Bus Station is also an additional step in providing feeder connectivity to the metro. However, BEST should have extended it to operate from Versova Yari Road to Andheri Station. One must remember at the end of the day that the earlier bus users briefly shifted to the metro when bus fares reached an all time high and have come back to buses. Those who earlier used share-autos have shifted to the Metro while the upper class regular auto and taxi users have not migrated. At least not yet.
On Twitter, I had earlier suggested a route from Veera Desai Road (Extension) to JVPD Bus Station which would act as feeders to both the Azad Nagar and DN Nagar Metro Stations.
A majority of BEST’s services are de facto feeder routes connecting to various railway stations. With the advent of the Metro, this needs to be expanded here as well. The core advantage the Metro has over the Suburban Rail is that because it is not at-grade (elevated or underground), the can start and end at two places that are not necessarily the metro station but intersect them.
BEST needs to do a lot more for the East. The Metro Pheri can perhaps be brought back to connect SEEPZ and MIDC with Chakala, JB Nagar, and Marol (Western Express Highway, Chakala – JB Nagar, Airport Road and Marol naka metro stations). Passengers headed to MIDC and SEEPZ from the Metro are otherwise left at the mercy of auto-rickshaws who for some reason refuse trips. While private players like Shuttl have begun services, mainly to service 91Springboard that has three hubs in the region, BEST needs to step in as well.
Along with this, BEST desperately needs a lot more of these non-stop AC minibuses in the East, primarily from Pinky Cinema (Agarkar Chowk) to Majas Depot. BEST could also experiment with a few of them from Airport Road metro to Terminal 2 and WEH metro/Chakala bus stop to Terminal 1 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).
Further, BEST also needs to provide a few services to Monorail stations. While the Mumbai Monorail itself has its own share of problems, all those are in MMRDA’s domain but connectivity to the monorail stations needs to be done.
Perhaps BEST can strike a deal with Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) for more connectivity?
Given BEST’s decision to cancel tenders earlier in December 2019, it seems we will have to wait for a while before things change. The 21-seater Force Motors’ Traveller Smart Citibus seems to be a good choice so far.
But until then, let’s hope for the best. (Pun intended).
Featured Image: D. N. Nagar Metro Station (Superfast1111/Wikimedia Commons)
