By Express News Service

KOCHI: The successful run that Kochi Metro is enjoying, after extension of the Metro service to Thykoodam, is continuing as the average monthly ridership has risen to more than 20 lakh. Scrutiny of the ridership data of Kochi Metro Rail (KMRL) shows a steep increase in the number of riders compared to the same period in 2018. And the ridership doubled in the last five months of 2019 compared to that in 2018. During December 2019, the ridership touched an all-time high of 21,08,108 while it was only 12,48,874 in December 2018.

The trend carried over to January 2020 with 20,74,430 riders travelling on the Metro.“Since the opening of the Thykoodam stretch, there has been a steady rise in ridership. We are witnessing heavy rush during the peak hours. To cater to commuters, we have already reduced the headway to six minutes during peak hours. The trend suggests that people are happy to use the Metro for their regular commute and the growth accelerated in 2019,” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma, managing director, KMRL .

As per the annual report of KMRL, the daily average ridership and revenue collection during 2018-19 was 34,589 and Rs 11.24 lakh, respectively. On the other hand, operating expenses for the year came to Rs 101.30 crore. Kochi Metro also posted a net loss of Rs 281 crore in 2018-19, up from Rs 167 crore in 2017-18 period. However, after the commissioning of the Maharaja’s-Thykoodam line in September 2019, the average ridership saw a steady increase and it touched 68,000 on weekdays.The daily revenue collection also went up to Rs 14.66 lakh.

Group booking

KMRL is also encouraging group booking if there are more than seven passengers in a group. It has also introduced minor cards to encourage travel by school children above the age of 10 . Apart from this, the total number of Kochi1 card users went up. There are 73,000 active Kochi 1 card users and they make up a robust 29 per cent of the total ridership.

Improved connectivity

Kochi Metro is also planning to increase the last-mile connectivity for its passengers. “Discussions with educational institutions along the Metro corridor, Infopark and corporates to provide last-mile connectivity are in the final stages,” Sharma said.KMRL has also signed an agreement with the KSRTC for plying electric buses as part of its feeder service to Kochi Airport. The plan is to operate two electric buses, having a seating capacity of 32, on the Aluva Metro station- airport route and other feasible stretches.