Kochi: It looks to be a fantastic first run. In its first month of operation, the Kochi Metro has earned a revenue of Rs 4.62 crore in ticket fares. Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), on Tuesday, said it had collected Rs 4,62,27,594 since June 17.
Thanking the commuters for wholeheartedly accepting the new mode of transport, KMRL said, on an average, the metro ferried 47,646 people per day. On the busiest day, it was 98,000 and the lowest, 20,000.
The traffic was higher on holidays. However, the metro attracted an average ridership of around 20,000 even on weekdays.
Before the commencement of operations, the authorities expected a revenue of Rs 2.5 crore to 3 crore in the initial stages.
The metro authorities thanked the passengers for their cooperation and patronage and also the care taken to keep the metro station premises clean.
'Metro tour'
They said the metro could attract passengers from outside the city too. People from various parts of the state took the 'metro tour' while visiting the city. They said the commuters were celebrating the 'outing on metro' by clicking selfies, and visiting shopping centers and malls.
The KMRL had arranged 'group ticket' facility for groups of 50-70 members.
Even on busy days, KRML said they were delighted to see commuters fully cooperating with metro staff and security officials by complying to their instructions.
The authorities said the passengers never dumped anything other than used tickets in the dustbins placed at the stations.
Earlier, the security agencies had instructed KMRL not to place dustbins at stations as it could potentially be used to conceal explosives. However, the authorities had to install it as commuters demanded dustbins.
Fewer complaints
The KMRL said they received very few complaints. Most of the complaints they received were about the Kochi One smart card, which enabled the users to hire autorickshaw, taxi, bus or Water Metro.
Initially, around 50 smart cards had defects. All of that had been replaced by new ones. KMRL had taken the care to handover the new cards at their homes and also provided free-vouchers as gifts. All the complaints had been reasonably addressed, KMRL said.
Water Metro
The company said it would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) on Wednesday to develop a jetty, marina, and associated facilities of global standards for the Water Metro project near Marine Drive.
The integrated jetty facility will accommodate water metro operations and also cater to the need of tourist boats, which will provide safe and secure access to tourists and passengers, without affecting free movement of pedestrians on the marine drive walkway.
It was on June 17 that prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first reach of the metro – from Palarivattom to Aluva – and it was thrown open for commercial operations on June 19.
