Breaking Records: Chennai Metro Witnesses Historic High Ridership In August With Over 85 Lakh Passengers

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) achieved a significant milestone in August by recording its highest passenger flow.

Over 8.5 million commuters boarded the metro trains last month, marking the highest monthly ridership of the year.

The CMRL expressed its gratitude to the passengers for their continuous support and cooperation.

The monthly ridership data for the Chennai Metro from January to August shows a steady increase in passenger numbers. In January, 6,607,458 passengers travelled, followed by 6,369,282 in February, 6,999,341 in March, 6,685,432 in April, 7,268,007 in May, 7,406,876 in June, 8,253,692 in July, and 8,589,977 in August. On 11 August the CMRL recorded the highest passenger flow for the month, with 329,920 passengers.

Since its inception in June 2015 until 31 December 2022, the Chennai Metro has served a total of 1,588,08,208 passengers.

From 29 June 2015, to December 31, 2018, the metro trains carried 280,523,357 passengers. In 2019, the number of passengers increased to 328,136,628, but in 2020, the ridership experienced a significant decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the Chennai Metro, resulting in the suspension of metro train services from March to September 2020 and again from May to June 2021.

As a result, the ridership in 2020 was 118,569,982 passengers, followed by 253,033,383 passengers in 2021. Despite the challenges, last year saw a total of 609,877,765 passengers using the Chennai Metro, as per the Financial Express report.

Chennai Metro

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited started its commercial operations on 29 June 2015, and has quickly become an essential transportation option for the people of Chennai.

It is a Joint Venture between the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu, with equal equity holding. Phase I of the Chennai Metro Rail project covers a length of 45.046 km network and consists of two corridors i.e. Corridor-I from Washermenpet to Airport (23.085 km), Corridor-2 from Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount (21.961 km).

About 55 per cent of the corridors in Phase I are underground and the remaining are elevated. Out of 32 stations 13 are elevated and the remaining 19 are underground. Inter-corridor interchange stations are available in Alandur (elevated) and Chennai Central (underground) respectively.

With a budget of Rs14,600 crore, the Phase I project work began more than 10 years ago. It was completed in stages, with the last portion from AG-DMS to Washermanpet opening to the public in 2019.

Chennai Metro Phase II

Phase II expansion has been planned for a length of 116 km network with 128 number of stations. It consists of three corridors. Corridor-3 from Madhavaram to SIPCOT, Corridor-4 from Lighthouse to Poonamalle Bypass, and Corridor-5 from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 63,246 crore.