Chennai Metro sees the IPL and music events as ways to increase passenger numbers.
What’s it about? On average, the Metro sees about 2.5 lakh passengers on weekdays and less than 2 lakh on weekends. In partnering with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the Indian Premier League (IPL), organisers of big events, and concert hosts, the Metro hopes the numbers will increase over time.
- For the IPL, the partnership with CSK allows fans to travel to the match for free on the Metro, and games will be live-streamed on giant LED screens at some stations.
- The recent AR Rahman concert attracted 1,600 passengers since they could travel from the Central Metro to the venue for free on the feeder service.
Who said what? Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) said Metro officials could attract more students by offering discounts and congratulatory messages once they’ve completed a certain number of trips. One Metro official said part of their focus is to attract first-time passengers.
(Image credits: Chennai Metro Rail’s Twitter post)