JOIN USThe lone six-car train seems to have made a positive impact on metro’s daily ridership with the average ridership number steadily climbing from 3.4 lakh to nearly 3.8 lakh over the past 10 days.
On Monday, farebox revenue hit an all-time high with the collection crossing Rs 1.30 crore, indicating that days are not far when metro does not have to depend on the government aid to pay back its loans.
The metro’s average fare revenue had remained at about Rs 85 lakh over the last one year. The ridership on Sundays continues to be the same.
Crossing the 4 lakh barrier has been something of an achievement for the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which saw 4.1 lakh ridership in September last year. Such spikes were mainly because of the rush of commuters during the weekends and long holidays.
“We can safely assume that the first six-car train has started an upward trend. In the past few days, we are seeing a slight increase in the average ridership and hope it to continue in the coming days,” U A Vasanth Rao, BMRCL Public Relations Officer and General Manager (Finance), said.
Noting that the first six-car train was running only on the Purple Line (Byappanahalli-Mysuru Road), he said as more trains hit the tracks in the coming months, ridership and revenue will increase further.
“The Green Line (Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli) has a good potential too. There is a rush during peak hours and a six-car train will definitely draw more commuters,” he said.
Many commuters have complained about crowded trains and rush on platforms. Lack of first and last-mile connectivity is another reason that makes people prefer cabs and auto rickshaws over the metro.
While more six-car trains will decongest the trains and platforms, full-fledged and comprehensive measures are required to address the connectivity gaps.