Even while operating at 50% capacity, the Metro has recovered nearly 68% of its weekday ridership after lockdown relaxations came into play.
In pre-COVID-19 times, 1.25 lakh people took the trains everyday on average. When services resumed in June, the average per day ridership stood at 47,000 owing to fear. It became 65,000 in July, subsequently rising to 75,000 last month, and finally hitting 85,000 last week.
According to the officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), while weekday ridership has been increasing, it has been remained poor during the weekends.
“While a total of 18.4 lakh passengers took the trains in July, the ridership touched 22.4 lakh in August, with August 27 recording the highest number of passengers per day at 88,579. With schools and colleges reopening, we are certain it will boost ridership,” an official said. CMRL has fined 242 passengers for not wearing masks, and has collected ₹48,400 from them. “We will intensify the checks, but passengers also have to cooperate,” the official added.
The Central Metro station received the highest footfall with nearly 7,000 passengers followed by the High Court Metro station, which got 4,000.
