Commuters Face Delays as BEST Cuts Route 111 Buses Between CSMT and Nariman Point
Thousands of daily office-goers traveling between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Nariman Point are facing severe commuting hardships due to erratic service on Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus route No. 111. The operational disruption comes immediately following the completion of a nine-month road concretisation project by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which stretched from Free Press House to the Y.B. Chavan stop junction at Dalamal Tower in Nariman Point.
Route No. 111 serves a crucial transit link in South Mumbai, carrying workers from CSMT to Free Press House during the morning commute before reversing direction during evening peak hours. Although commuters anticipated that the completion of the BMC roadwork on schedule would bring relief and allow normal bus operations to resume, BEST authorities instead drastically reduced the number of buses operating on the route.
Passengers waiting at bus stops now experience delays of 20 to 25 minutes between buses. According to timekeepers and bus conductors on the route, BEST management has allocated only two buses in each direction for Route No. 111. As a result of these reduced allocations, frustrated office-goers frequently arrive late at CSMT and miss their scheduled suburban local train connections.
The service cuts have disproportionately affected budget-conscious commuters who rely on lower public transit fares. The BEST bus fare of Rs 12 remains significantly more affordable than the Rs 20 Metro fare required for the same journey between Nariman Point and CSMT. A woman commuter working at the nearby Raheja Centre stated that she relies strictly on the BEST service because she cannot afford daily Metro tickets.
In response to the ongoing delays, commuters are calling on senior BEST traffic officers to visit the Free Press House bus stop during the evening peak hours, specifically between 5:45 pm and 7:30 pm. Passengers want officials to witness the severe crowding firsthand and immediately restore bus frequency on Route No. 111 so commuters can reach their destinations on time.
