mumbai metro lines 2a and 7 are a game changer for suburban commuters now they have the option of switching from local trains to this newage lifeline even if only for part of the journey in a sign that the two new lines are redefining mobility patterns in the suburbs several bandrakurla complex commuters for instance have begun taking autorickshaws to andheri and then switching to the metro as santosh dsouza a resident of chikoowadi in borivali said it is tough to travel from bkc to bandra station and even tougher to board a train during evening peak hours i now travel to gundavli metro station in andheri east from where i take the metro to borivali it is expensive but less stressfulthe 35km metro links western express highway and link road between gundavli in the east and d n nagar in the west with a merging point at dahisar commuters from both western and eastern suburbs have benefited numbers provided by metro 1 ghatkoparversova which has interchange stations with both these lines at d n nagar and western express highway show the ridership has risen by 15000 after the commissioning of the two linesa borivali resident who works in chembur said she finds it thrilling to cross the mith chowky stretch at malad in a flash unlike earlier when i would be stuck at the signal for 15 minutes i now travel to ghatkopar by the metro and take an auto to chemburdr sanjay pandey head urologyandrology and gender reassignment at kokilaben ambani hospital andheri describes the new metro lines as the eighth wonder of the world the goregaon resident is pleased at being able to simply cross the road from his house to reach the stationcommuters are waiting for further expansion of the metro network for seamless commute across the city they say for a few rupees more a metro ride offers airconditioned comfort and savings on time and energy and one can reach their destination fresh other than beautification and wide footpaths it is a metro network that gives a city an international feel they say railfan and borivali resident akshay patil said i had been to dubai a few days ago and travelled by their metro and i can vouch that our new metro lines can be compared to those standards which are truly international personally i have had a nightmarish experience in the past to get a autorickshaw from inorbit mall in malad to borivalia common sight on weh before the peak hour is traffic police putting barricades to set up temporrary lanes that widen the width of the carriageway to ease traffic this sums up how bad the situation is on weh with an average speed of 1012kmph western railway that runs parallel to weh and sv road is also one of the densest suburban networks with 35 lakh passengers now gundavali and andheri west the two terminating stations of metro lines 7 and 2a are the busiest followed by dahisarthe common station for