CHENNAI: Taking into the account of the spike in patronage in Chennai Metro Rail, the train services during non-peak hours will run every seven minutes from Monday in both corridor 1 and 2 of the phase 1 service.

"This will reduce the crowding and waiting time period for passengers taking the Metro service,"read the statement by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).

Earlier, the trains were being operated every nine minutes during the non-peak hours. However, with drastic footfall surge, the department has decided to shorten the train frequency to every seven minutes from Monday.

Meanwhile, CMRL has recorded 85.50 lakh passengers in October, seeing a marginal surge from September of 84.37 lakh.

In September, the transit service saw an increase of passenger footfall by over 5 lakh compared to its previous months. For the particular month about 61.12 lakh passengers took the Metro Rail service. While the number in August was 56.66 lakh.

Subsequently, the data showed that the average daily ridership in Chennai Metro Rail has increased to 2.75 lakh passengers per day compared to two lakh passengers in the beginning of the year.

"Increasing the frequency is a major boost for the public opting to take Metro service. As, frequency is freedom, passengers can now travel more comfortably and quickly, by not having to wait and overcrowd in trains, "said S Harish, a regular traveller in the Metro Rail.