The newly-opened water taxi service in Mumbai links Belapur in Navi Mumbai to the Domestic Cruise Terminal (DCT), or Bhaucha Dhakka, in South Mumbai. At the time of its inauguration on February 17, the water taxi service was touted as the solution to cut travel time from around 90 minutes by road to 25 minutes along the coastline.
However, according to a report by The Indian Express, in the ten days since its inauguration, operators say the speed boat service has taken just three trips between the two locations. The report also added that the catamaran ferry, for mass transport, has had no trips at all due to lack of commuter interest.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Amit Saini, CEO of Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), the nodal agency for the project said, “We will be holding a meeting on March 2 with all stakeholders to find a solution to the issue.” Adding that there are “issues of connectivity” between DCT and the “main points” in South Mumbai, Saini also mentioned that there is a need to provide end-to-end service from the jetty. Saini told the national daily that the issue was brought to the authorities’ notice by some passengers and they are working on it.
At a time, the speed boat can accommodate around 12 people and cover the distance in 25-30 minutes. The price of a one-way ticket is Rs 1,210. Meanwhile, the catamaran can accommodate 56 passengers at a time with a ticket costing Rs 290 for the 45-minute journey, an AC train ticket costs Rs 210, and AC taxi fare adds up to Rs 900, reported The Indian Express.
My Boat Ride and Mumbai Water Taxi also operate on this route which provides speedboat services on three routes that are: Belapur-DCT, Belapur-Elephanta and DCT-Elephanta.
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