Your Namma Metro ride would get dearer by the end of the year.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) is planning to increase ticket fare from November-December, 2016, when the Metro Phase I is completely commissioned.





“We are looking into it. It has been six years since Metro services started and the rates have not been increased. We are now examining it as other services like power are also getting expensive,” Pradeep Singh Kharola, BMRCL managing director and Additional Chief Secretary, told DH.



Ticket pricing depends on the construction cost incurred, the number of trips on every route and the number of commuters travelling. BMRCL is conducting a study on this.



“Presently, the Metro ticket rates are almost on a par with that of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). According to international transport norms, Metro rates should be one-and-a-half times that of local road transport. The rates cannot be too low as they would cause losses to BMTC and they cannot be too high since they may deter commuters from using the Metro. All these factors are being analysed,” a BMRCL official explained.



“The revised rates will be introduced with the completion of Phase-1 Metro line. We have set a target of November, 2016, with a grace period of one month. The number of coaches and the frequency of trains would also be increased and this would also have an impact on the cost estimation,” the official added.



As on August 22, around Rs 35 lakh was earned by sale of tickets by BMRCL every day, which is around Rs 10 crore a month. When the service had started, the ticket sales were around Rs 20,000 a day with four to five lakh commuters. Now, the number of commuters have increased to 1.70 lakh per day.



The maximum rush is on the Mysuru Road line with 1.35 lakh commuters. The Peenya line sees around 45,000 commuters using it every day.



According to the BMRCL website, the minimum ticket rate is Rs 10 and the maximum on the Purple line (from Mysuru Road to Baiyappanhalli) is Rs 40 and on the Green Line (from Mantri Square, Sampige Road to Nagasandra) it is Rs 32.

