Metro Rail to the rescue as rain blocks roads

The Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) on Thursday witnessed an all-time high footfall of 1.83 lakh passengers after non-stop rain brought traffic to halt on arterial roads.

According to Metro officials, a total of 1,83,321 passengers travelled on Metro trains on Thursday. Metro operation time was also extended by an hour till midnight.

Its ridership on Thursday went up by a whopping 42 per cent when compared to Wednesday’s footfall of 1,28,574 passengers. Metro stations witnessed huge crowds after the heavy rain left several areas inundated and brought traffic to a halt. Seldom crowded stations saw hundreds of passengers standing in long queues to buy tickets or recharge their travel cards.

P Saravanan, an employee of a private firm on Broadway, said he had to take Metro to reach his residence at Porur via Alandur Station. Some passengers complained about water logging at the Government Estate Metro Station subway near Wallajah road and the parking bay of St Thomas Mount station.