The noticeable increase in daily passenger patronage and other revenue-earning measures has helped Kochi metro make operational profit of ₹5.35 crore in 2022-23, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has informed.
This marks a shift from many years of operational loss, thanks to among other reasons, cost-control measures. There was an increase of only 15% in operational expense in 2022-23, despite extending the metro from Pettah to S.N. Junction where there are two stations.
The metro’s daily patronage (on the 12-km Aluva-Palarivattom stretch) in 2018, a year after beginning service, was approximately 40,000. This increased to 60,000 per day in the October-December 2019 period and nosedived to 5,300 in May 2021 due to the pandemic. Post the lockdown, it increased to 12,000 in July that year. The patronage increased to 75,000 in the September-November 2022 period.
In 2023, the daily footfall crossed the one-lakh mark on 24 days, while the average daily patronage in the September 1 to 21 period was 91,742. This was made possible by introducing a slew of discount offers for students and regular commuters, and by installing automatic ticket-vending machines. Social-media campaigns too helped, said KMRL Managing Director Loknath Behera.
The State government is repaying loans and taxes of the metro at present. KMRL too would be able to pitch in when its financial position improved in tandem with the commissioning of the metro’s Thripunithura extension and the subsequent commissioning of its Kakkanad extension, said metro sources.
The fare-box income rose from ₹12.90 crore in 2020-21 to ₹75.49 crore in 2022-23, while non-fare-box income rose from ₹41.42 crore in 2020-21 to ₹58.55 crore in 2022-23. It also resulted in operational income increasing from ₹54.32 crore to ₹134 crore, they added.
The metro had in 2019 made operational profit, soon after commissioning of the Maharaja’s Ground-Thykoodam extension, thanks to daily patronage doubling from 40,000 to 80,000 on almost all days. This had then made Kochi metro the second one after Delhi metro to make operational profit.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, through a Facebook post, said the metro making operational profit in 2022-23 would provide impetus to the State’s development.
