CHENNAI: Realizing that the common ticketing system would not be successful unless the duration of validity of train tickets is extended, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (Cumta) has written to the Southern Railway, which operates suburban and MRTS demanding the same.

As per the present norms, passengers should start their travel on local trains within one hour after buying the tickets. “Since this may not be viable, a request has been sent to the Southern Railway to extend the time limit to at least 6 hours,” an official said.

Under the common ticketing system, passengers could travel on Metro trains, suburban trains and MTC buses using a single ticket which would be enabled with QR codes and interchange between the three travel modes. If a commuter intends to travel between Ashok Nagar to Avadi, he or she can take a Metro train to Chennai Central and then take a suburban train without buying separate tickets.

It may be noted that Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy, in the Assembly, announced that a Journey Planner mobile application will be created and launched at Rs 15 crore. Using the app, QR code-enabled cashless tickets can be bought.

According to data, around 28.2 per cent of commuters in the city use public transportation such as buses, Metro, and suburban trains every day. In terms of numbers, around 31 lakh trips are made on MTC buses while 11 lakh trips are made on suburban trains. More than 1.16 lakh trips are made using Metro trains.

On the other hand, Chennai Metro Rail has already introduced travel cards to travel on Metro, and MTC has also taken measures to introduce bus cards. All these cards will be integrated once a common ticketing system is launched.