This decision came after a high level meeting held recently and a subsequent approval from a committee, sources added.

For the first time, Chennai Metro Rail plans to offer 50% discount to commuters on all Sundays and public holidays beginning this Diwali, in a bid to boost ridership.

Highly placed sources told The Hindu, when a commuter uses smart card, the minimum fare he would have to pay will be as low as ₹4 and maximum ₹27. With token, the minimum and maximum fares will be ₹5 and ₹30 respectively

The Hindu first reported on September, 30 that Chennai Metro Rail has been planning to reduce fares to attract more people to use this system.

This decision came after a high level meeting held recently and a subsequent approval from a committee, sources added.

The reason for this decision is, on weekdays, the number of people travelling through Chennai Metro Rail system ranges from 1.15 to 1.18 lakh. But on Sundays, there is a considerable dip in ridership and only about 50,000-60,000 people take the system.

“The idea is to pull more people into using our system and give them an opportunity to travel and see how convenient it is. Many new commuters may try the system on Sunday and consider taking it to permanently. This discount will be valid for one year, after which it will be reviewed depending on the need,” a source said.

This will be particularly of great advantage to those heading to other cities on Sundays and using transport hubs like Chennai airport, CMBT, Chennai Central Railway station or Chennai Egmore Railway station, sources said. For instance, if someone is travelling from Teynampet to Chennai airport, it may cost him only ₹20 (using token) as against what he may pay regularly ₹40; if the same commuter were to take a cab for this distance of about 11 km, he may have to shell out anywhere between ₹250-300.

Similarly, if a commuter has to travel from Washermanpet to Chennai airport, it would cost him ₹30 (with tokens), as against paying ₹400-450 through a cab for distance of nearly 22 km.