Namma Metro ridership crosses 4.6 lakh mark

BMRCL hopes for ridership will cross the 5 lakh mark in two months

After suffering reduced ridership and revenue in the last two years of the pandemic, Namma Metro ridership touched the 4.62 lakh mark recently. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is hoping that in two months’ time, the daily ridership would cross 5 lakh mark.

After the outbreak of the pandemic, like other transport systems, the BMRCL too saw a dip in ridership. However, in the last five months, there has been a gradual increase in the ridership.

BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez told The Hindu that the highest ridership was recorded last week. “There are various factors for increased ridership that include more employees returning back to office from work from home culture, opening of educational institutions and others. We have also noticed that when the city received heavy rain last week, people preferred to travel by metro. This week, daily ridership on weekdays ranged from 4.2 to 4.4 lakh.”

The increase in cost of fuel also forced some passengers to opt for public transport. Vaishanvi, a passenger said, “Earlier, I was paying close to ₹300 to ₹400 per day for taxis, but now I have shifted to Namma Metro. Though first mile and last mile connectivity is an issue, I am taking a long walk to reach the metro station. Travelling in the metro has helped to save a considerable amount of money compared to taxis.”

The BMRCL has an operational network of 55 km, out of which 13 km were added last year by opening two lines — the extended Purple Line from Mysuru Road Station to Kengeri, and the extended Green Line from Yelachenahalli to Silk Institute. The number of operational metro stations on both the lines has increased from 41 stations to 52 stations.

In January, a total of 96.5 lakh people used the service, and it jumped to 1.09 crore in April, while the revenue went from ₹23.12 crore to ₹26.43 crore in the same period. In May, the revenue generation crossed ₹1 crore per day on weekdays. As many as 62% of passengers use smart cards to travel, while 38 % use tokens.

Though the number of riders is increasing gradually, the BMRCL has no plans to add more schedules. Executive Director (Maintenance and operations) A.S. Shankar said, “We are operating 146 trips of trains on the Purple Line and 141 on the Green Line. Trains are being operated with a frequency of 4 to 5 minutes and these six coach trains can accommodate more passengers. There is no need for running additional trains for current demand.”