Extend service till midnight, urge Metro users in DT survey

CHENNAI: With the ridership in Chennai metro rail seeing a steep increase in recent months, most commuters have requested the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to extend its services till midnight. Currently, the metro rail service is operational from 4 am to 11 pm in the city.

In a recent poll held by DT NEXT, about 83 per cent of the respondents voted in favour of extending the services till midnight. About 9 per cent of voters have said ‘no’ and the rest 9 per cent voted for the ‘can’t say’ option.

Jayanth, a daily commuter said, “With the increase in ridership, extending the service till midnight will encourage more passengers to use the service. Also, keeping the service operational till midnight for a metro city like Chennai is highly crucial, both for businesses and transport-oriented development.”

Meanwhile, the services of Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai operate after midnight on a few routes. And, the EMU service has been operational from 4 am till 12 am.

Hence, most passengers urged to extend the Chennai metro rail service also till midnight and begin the services as early as 4 am, like EMUs.

“Starting the Chennai metro rail service along with other services will help passengers utilise the required transit services simultaneously. If all services are available at common timings, passengers can opt for the easier option, “said Nivetha, a daily commuter.

Commenting on this, MA Siddique, MD, CMRL said, “Based on the rising ridership and demand assessment while also taking into consideration the requirements of maintenance; a suitable decision will be taken.”

“However, we are reviewing the morning service timings by studying the airline demands. As currently, the service starting timings have been kept regarding the flying demands of passengers,” added the MD.

Meanwhile, another CMRL official added that extending the service till midnight will need added manpower. “The footfall must be more than 50 per cent and in case of high demand among commuters, we will increase the service till midnight.” the official added.

I Jayakumar, special officer, Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) said,” CUMTA is currently studying the last mile connectivity, under the world bank study on ‘route rationalisation and feeder route service’ for MTC network likely to go on for next 12 months.

“But, specific to extending the metro rail service till midnight, we may realign MTC services in case of need as a short-term resolution along with other feasible changes. And, catering to passengers having to catch early flights, we will realign services from major terminals like central or Saidapet metro stations, depending upon the pattern we will connect with MTC services. Hence, naturally, auto and cab aggregators will come into the picture,” added Jayakumar.