After handling more than a quarter-million rail trips over the four-day NCAA Final Four period, Metro is calling it a slam dunk.

“These numbers are fantastic for us,” spokesman Jerome Gray said.

Metro said 255,700 rail boardings occurred from Friday until Monday. That’s roughly 87,000 more for the four days than the system would typically carry. The figure also does not include about 4,500 people who hopped buses from NRG Park that ferried them downtown to relieve rail demand after the basketball games on Saturday and Monday nights.

The totals are also significantly higher than Metro reported in 2011, prior to opening three new segments of light rail in the area. Five years ago, about 148,300 people used light rail for the four days of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

One reason riders reported a smoother trip to and from the basketball games that increased Metro’s ability to carry people is the light rail expansion, which meant the agency had more cars, Gray said.

In 2011, Metro would have owned 18 rail cars. Today, more than 60 were available, though Metro operates roughly three times as much distance via rail.

The added cars allowed officials to stockpile vehicles, so the Red Line that operates usually every six minutes could send a train every three minutes to NRG Park. On Saturday, that meant Metro handled 72,000 trips.

That number, while huge for a Saturday, isn’t close to a record day for Metro. That mark was met on March 16, during Spring Break and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. More than 95,000 boardings occurred on the rail line, with 88,000 of those on the Red Line, Metro officials said.

The record day was “Value Wednesday” of the rodeo, headlined by Jake Owens, making his first rodeo appearance.