Mumbai, Oct. 10 -- Ridership on Metro 3 nearly tripled to 156,456 on Thursday, when the final phase of the underground corridor-from Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli to Cuffe Parade-was opened to the public. With this, the entire 33.5-km line, from Aarey-JVLR to Cuffe Parade, is now fully operational. Until Wednesday, when the line was operational only from Aarey-JVLR to Worli the average daily ridership was 52,500, according to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL). After the final stretch was thrown open on Thursday, taking the metro line into the heart of south Mumbai, ridership had already touched 97,846 by 6 pm. This means over 58,000 people took the line between 6 pm and 10.30 pm. With the line now fully open, Mumbaikars working in the commercial hubs of south Mumbai have a new commuting option. On Thursday, several people were seen opting for the air-conditioned metro from the Vidhan Bhavan, CSMT, and Churchgate stations over public buses and share taxis. A senior MMRCL official shared that Vidhan Bhavan and CSMT emerged as the most popular stations in south Mumbai. During the evening rush hours, passenger turnout was exceptionally high at Vidhan Bhavan. "To ensure smooth crowd movement and maintain safety, one of the seven entry gates at a station was temporarily closed for approximately 10 minutes," said an MMRCL official. The Cuffe Parade-CSMT stretch was an instant hit. Hordes of commuters flocked to the stations on this stretch to get a quick, air-conditioned ride to the Churchgate and CSMT railway stations, free from the hassle of waiting for a bus and manoeuvring through traffic. The metro line also appears to have discouraged people living in the suburbs from driving down to work in south Mumbai, as the parking lot of the Aarey-JVLR metro station was packed during the day. Despite the enthusiastic turnout, several teething troubles affected Day 1 operations. The absence of mobile network coverage and working WiFi inside the underground stations left most passengers unable to use ticket machines or make online payments. Additionally, newly opened stations were not yet visible on the ticketing app, forcing passengers to rely on cash-based ticket counters, which led to long queues at some stations. In a few locations, the counter systems also crashed. Some commuters were seen scanning QR codes at underground ticket counters, then heading above ground to get mobile network access to complete their payments, before returning underground to collect their tickets. At CSMT station around 6:40 pm, chaos ensued when nearly 300 people were seen queuing behind the exit gates. Many ran off without punching out, and staff were unable to stop them. The lack of share cabs outside the Grant Road, Kalbadevi and Girgaon metro stations is also a pain point....