CMRL’s trial headway in corridors 1 & 2 spikes ridership

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has had a spike in passenger ridership in corridor 1 (C1) and corridor 2 (C2) after the implementation of new headway (frequency between two trains) in November 2022.

The new headway began on a trial basis to address the passenger overload in corridor 1, especially during peak hours. The CMRL, on November 21 last year, started the new headway of operating 3 metro trains in 12 minutes with the short loop service.

This led to a surge in average ridership rose from 2.06 lakh passengers per day to 2.13 lakh passengers, on both C1 (blue line) and C2 (green line). Officials claim that due to revision in headway, the trains at present are less crowded, even during peak hours.

Explaining the need to try a new headway, a higher official said, “With a headway of 5 minutes, we noticed that C1 was always crammed and running at full capacity. But C2 was relatively less crowded. To ease up the crowd in C1, we changed the train frequencies to 3, 3 and 6 minutes, which means in 12 minutes, there are 3 trains, compared to 3 trains in 15 minutes.”

The official added that due to the new headway, passengers were able to comfortably stand in the train. Also, due to less crowd, the frequency in C2 was changed to 6 minutes, compared to previous 5 minutes. But this too may be changed on need basis, said officials.

“Around 20 new train operators have completed their training. Depending on the need, we’d deliberate changing the headway with added manpower,” noted the official.

Incidentally, the CMRL deliberating a new headway of 4 minutes in corridor 1 till Wimco Nagar Metro station.

As per CMRL data, the average ridership per day in C1 rose from 1.12 lakh passengers to 1.15 lakh from November 2022. Likewise, in case of C2, the average per day ridership spiked from 94,090 passengers to 98,628, both after the implementation of short loop service.