In an attempt to woo commuters on Sundays, the Chennai Metro Rail is considering offering special discounts and improved feeder services on its routes, reported The Hindu.
The ridership of Chennai Metro Rail, which hovers around 1.2 lakh on weekdays, falls sharply to around 70,000 on Sundays. In order to boost the number, the Metro Rail administration is working on a proposal to implement various measures that could draw people to use the service. The administration, according to the news report, is considering offering a 50% discount on Sundays or on Sundays as well as public holidays for a month-long period or upto a year. The proposal is yet to be finalized and sent to the Chennai Metro Rail board.
The feeder services that are being operated from Metro stations to prominent outing spots in the city are also expected to increase patronage to the service over the weekends.
In 2017, the Chennai Metro Rail offered a 40% discount on all its tickets to increase the ridership of the service. The discount mela, which was in place for a week, reportedly increased patronage by 67%. In the run-up to Diwali in 2017, for more than a month, Chennai Metro Rail had offered a discount of 20% on all its tickets to bolster the number of users taking metro rides.
Of late, the Chennai Metro Rail has been announcing a plethora of measures to draw crowds to use its services. The feeder cab services, which offers short rides between the metro stations and designated pick-up points, is one of the important measures introduced by the transportation authority to woo commuters. Users will be able to pre-book a seat in the cabs through a special mobile app and use the feeder service for a flat rate of Rs 10. The service runs within a radius of 6-8 kilometres from the stations.
Source: The News Minute