Tamil Nadu slashes metro rail fare by Rs 20, to come into effect from February 22

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Saturday announced a reduction in the maximum fare for travel in the Chennai Metro rail by Rs 20, thus bringing down the fare for full length travel to Rs 50 from the present Rs 70.

The new CMRL fare will come into effect from February 22. Though the commuters will have to pay Rs 10 for a distance of upto 2 kilometres, according to the new fare structure, the fare for a distance from two to five km will be Rs 20 while Rs 30 will be the fare to travel a distance of 5 to 12 km.

The commuters will have to pay Rs 40 for a distance between 12 and 21 km and beyond 21 km (upto 32 km), the fare has been fixed at Rs 50. A further discount of 20 percent of the fare will be provided to those opting to book tickets using the QR code or CMRL smart cards, an official statement said.

"Accepting the demands of the people that the Metro Rail fares should be decreased in order to further enhance the patronage of CMRL service, the government has announced a cut in the fares for the benefit of the public," Palaniswami said in the statement.

He informed that commuters who avail unlimited day passes at Rs 100 for the 45 km stretch of phase-1 of CMRL could now enjoy unlimited day passes at the same sum for additional 9 km to travel upto Wimco Nagar from Vannarpet.

Similarly, those utilising the monthly passes could travel till the newly extended line to Wimco Nagar at the current fare of Rs 2,500. Further, he announced a 50 percent discount on the daily tickets (not for daily passes) for travellers on Sundays and public holidays.