Bengaluru: Hardly any buyers for one-day, three-day Metro passes

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)
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Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)

Highlights

BMRCL officials confident of good response to passes from commuters in future

Bengaluru: The all new one-day and three-day passes launched by Namma Metro hasn't received a good response from the daily commuters, unlike what the BMRCL had expected.

Although the approximate ridership during the weekdays is 3.7 lakh, the commuters aren't dependent on these passes as most of them prefer using Metro smart cards. "We haven't witnessed a lot of people buying one-day or three-day passes since they find Metro smart cards much convenient and efficient," says an employer from customer care at Namma Metro.

The one-day pass costs Rs200 and the three-day pass costs Rs400. This includes a refundable deposit of Rs50 which is valid only for the date of purchase.

According to the data provided by the BMRCL records, on April 3, 44 one-day and one three-day passes were sold; on April 5, only 13 one-day and 4 three-day passes were sold.

"The one-day or the three-day pass doesn't seem very economical for daily passengers who just commute to the office and back home on metro. One-way fare on the farthest route — Kengeri to the Silk Institute —is Rs60 and the total to and from costs Rs120. Hence, smart cards are much convenient for daily passengers who travel twice. It is definitely useful for people who make use of metro 3-4 times a day," a daily commuter, tells The Hans India.

"Since I don't completely depend metro to commute, as it hasn't reached most parts of the city yet, smart card seems a better choice," says another frequent commuter.

The availability of one-day and three-day passes at the Metro counters have already been displayed inside the Metro trains and the stations.

Some BMRCL officials state that even though there aren't a lot of buyers at the moment, this will take some time for it to be popular among the passengers. They also have plans of launching monthly passes in the coming days.

"Metro hasn't reached all the parts of Bengaluru so far. I must depend on other public transport services like buses, auto rickshaws and cabs to reach my destination. Sometimes, these metro trains are crowded where one will have to wait for another six minutes so that a different train arrives at the platform. Since they don't have one train to reach a location and passengers have to board a different train in order to get to their destination, it becomes problematic. As this consumes a lot of time, a one-day pass or a smart card can seem unnecessary," states a passenger.

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