Chennai Metro patronage falls in Nov due to heavy rains

In November, 29.24 lakh passengers travelled in the metro trains as against 29.69 lakh passengers in October, a CMRL release stated. On November 25, a maximum of 1.31 passengers travelled in the metro trains.

Following the resumption of metro train services on June 21 this year, the Metro witnessed patronage of 18.46 lakh passengers in July and it went up to 22.74 lakh in August, registering a growth of 23 per cent. In September, the patronage increased by 18 per cent to 26.86 lakh and by 10 per cent in October to 29.69 lakh. A total of 1.30 crore passengers used the Metro service since June 21.

CMRL sources attributed the marginal drop in patronage to the heavy rains. “With several areas inundated, the passengers avoided travelling to the office and opted to work from home. The colleges and schools were closed due to heavy rain,” sources added.

Sources in CMRL said passengers’ patronage would go up in the coming months with the operation of small buses as feeder services from four stations and with plans to extend to all the stations as well.