Namma Metro getting back on tracks as passenger ridership, revenue increase

Bengaluru: Namma Metro, which has suffered a huge dent in its revenue due to the dwindling number of passengers using Metro trainsin the wake of Covid pandemic outbreak, is now slowly getting back on tracks.

There is an increase in the revenue of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) as the number of passengers using metro trains is increasing day by day.

Before the outbreak of CovidMetro trains were widely used by city commuters. In While in January and February 2020, 1.29 crore and 1.18 crore people, respectively, travelledon the purple and green line routes,the number had slumped to 66.52 lakh in March. By December the same year, the number had further fallen to 28.87 lakh. BMRCL's revenue was badly hit because of lack of patronage as well as meagreearnings from vehicle parking at the stations.

The number of passengers in January and February this year slightly improved to 85 lakh before seeing a significant increase in March. A total of 1.09 crore travelled on Metro trains in last 31 days. Thus, BMRCL earned a total income of Rs 98.36 lakh.

In the first two months of this year, an average of 2.7 lakh people travelled daily on the Metro. However, the situation has improved since March. In the past three days, an average of 4.4 lakh people travelled daily bringing in more revenue, according to BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parvez.

The Covid cases have decreased and people are now back to normal activities. A vast majority of IT professionswho worked from home have returned to their offices. More are expected to attend office by next week, Parvez said. He also expressed the hope that commuter ridership would increase after the rainy season.

BMRCL is also looking at increasing its revenue through advertising and is preparing to float tenders for the same. "No company was keen on using the Metro spaces for advertising during the Covid period. Now,things have changed and we have decided to invite tenders again. We are also considering expanding the services of trains and increasing the number of train carriages in line with passenger numbers," the BMRCL MD elaborated.