Metro rail footfall doubles after torrential downpour

Patronage on the 10km Koyambedu-Alandur elevated corridor has more than doubled since the rains. Luckily for CMRL, Chennaiites newfound interest in metro seems not to be short-lived.

Footfall at metro station continued to be twofold more than the normal average a week after the rains stopped and other transport modes had resumed normal service.

At 3 pm on Monday, around 14,000 people had traveled in the metro, a big jump given that the daily average used to be between 5,000 and 6,000 till a fortnight back. CMRL had field days during the horrendous five days, when it recorded 3.5 lakh people and pocketed '1 crore, highest ever since its inception in July 2015.

“Indeed patronage increased manifolds during those five days. The daily footfall crossed one lakh once. The good thing about the overwhelming public response is, it continues. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people have been travelling daily since then,” said a senior CMRL officer, who put the highest footfall at 20,000 during the last week.

Attributing the increased patronage to its punctuality, CMRL officers explained that the headway (frequency of train operation) was unaffected, as they had kept the peak hour and non-peak hour headway at 10 and 15 minutes respectively even during the rains.

Unlike the tar roads badly hit by the rains, our ballast-free tracks remain intact and hence the punctuality and the resultant increase in public support, CMRL officers explained.