Hyderabad: With 2.8 lakh paid passengers and a footfall of 2.95 lakh, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) witnessed a record high on Friday. Metro Rail authorities claimed that other than the interchange station Ameerpet, which was recording a daily average footfall of 19,000, Hitec City was consistently holding the first position at 18,000, followed by LB Nagar at 16,000, Miyapur at 14,000, and KPHB at 13,000. Now, these stations are seeing up to 40,000 users daily.
HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy said that the average footfall has been climbing steadily at the rate of approximately 5,000 per week, especially after the introduction of shuttle services. As of now, the average footfall recorded during the weekdays stands at 2.65 lakh commuters and during the weekends, 2.1 lakh.
Mr Reddy said the number of commuters using smart cards has risen to match the number of commuters buying tickets (estimated at 1.39 lakh), which indicates an increase in the number of regular commuters.
“Ameerpet, too, has witnessed a significant rise in footfall (over 1 lakh daily) as a large number of commuters are using the Metro Rail to travel to the hub to shop, dine, etc. This count has not been captured in our data as many shops and restaurants in Ameerpet happen to be located in the “unpaid” area of the station. The case with Miyapur, LB Nagar, and several other stations is pretty much the same now. Metro stations are indeed becoming popular commercial hubs. A lot more is in the offing,” he concluded.
