Kochi: After hitting a low in revenue collection in July, August months, the ridership of Kochi Metro has seen a steady rise post opening of the Maharajas stretch with daily earnings now touching Rs 10 lakh mark on weekend days.
The five kilometre Maharajas section was opened to public on October 3. Though there was a rise in ridership upon the metro reaching the Central Business District of the city, the heavy commuter patronage was noticed ever since it announced free return trip for commuters upon buying a return journey ticket too simultaneously.
“The average ridership in the nine days from November 14, when the offer was implemented, alone was over 40, 000. The month of October saw an average ridership of 29, 582 people,” sources said.
However, the record ridership (average ridership 46,696) was in the initial months of June and July when the monthly revenue touched Rs 1.56 crore with joy riders from across the state making a stopover to travel in the metro. However, the revenue dipped in August when only around 25, 000 commuters availed off the facility per day.
To increase further footfalls in the metro, the KMRL has long term plans such as introduction of new fare products like monthly passes, student passes, weekend passes, daily passes and seasonal passes – all offering discounts to frequent travelling.
The glitches associated with the Kochi-1 smart card were solved and now the cards are available from all stations. The smart card gives people a discount on tickets and it can also be used to pay for internet transactions, besides doubling up as a bus and ferry ticket.
