Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Thursday said the Delhi Metro has always seen “seasonal ups and downs” and attributed the low ridership to the “months of summer break.”
In a series of tweets, Mr. Puri said, “Let me put it across very clearly, traffic on Metro has always seen seasonal ups and downs. April-June are the months of summer break when growth has never looked high. However, ridership in the current month has gone up to 27 lakh.”
Further, he said, “The contention that metro traffic has shifted to private vehicles is incorrect. Metro is still cheaper than private commute. Those who want to ride on ridership figures can wait for schools and colleges to reopen. Why do these arguments surface only during festivals and vacations?”
‘Utilisation has gone up’
He was responding to reports which stated that months after the fare hike, the Metro’s ridership figures reflected a dip. Reacting to reports of the daily ridership reducing by approximately five lakh commuters on five of its corridors including the Yellow, Blue, Red, Green and Violet, Mr. Puri, in a tweet said, “With new corridors, DMRC has widened its geographic reach and is serving citizens with efficiency. System utilisation has gone up to a record 48 lakh.”
