CHENNAI: In an effort to alleviate congestion during peak hours, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has introduced bi-directional ticketing gates at select stations.

These gates have the capacity of functioning as either entry or exit points and have been installed at Thousand Lights, Government Estate and AG-DMS metro stations. According to a report in The Hindu, there are also plans to extend them to other high-traffic locations like Chennai Airport, Guindy and Tirumangalam in the future.

The Phase I network which spans across 45 kilometers features four entry and exit points per station and is equipped with 20 automatic fare collection gates. While most stations have dedicated entry and exit gates to streamline passenger flow, certain locations experience bottlenecks during rush hours, prompting the adoption of bi-directional gates for greater flexibility.

The Thousand Lights Metro station which caters to nearly around 17,000 commuters daily, witnesses heavy exit traffic between 8.00 am and 9.30 am as many office goers disembark which is followed by a surge in entry traffic between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm as passengers return home. The new gates have the ability to switch functions and accommodate these fluctuations which helps ease congestion.

While regular commuters have welcomed the initiative, some of them have highlighted the need for more escalators from street level to the concourse to further improve accessibility and reduce wait times.