Nearly 5,000 passengers took Chennai Metro on Sunday – The Hindu

Chennai News

On Sunday, when there was a full lockdown, Chennai Metro Rail had nearly 5,000 passengers using trains, with a majority of them travelling either to take a train or a flight.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), since there was no other mode of public transport available to connect to transport hubs like Chennai Central and Chennai airport, many who had to travel used the trains.

Chennai Central Metro Rail station had the maximum number of passengers — nearly 850 — followed by Egmore Metro Rail station, which was used by 500 passengers. Nearly 400 passengers travelled through the Chennai airport Metro Rail station.

“Most of the other stations had merely 30-50 passengers at the most. In a few other stations, like Vadapalani, Alandur and Government Estate, there were more than 100 passengers. This explains that apart from those travelling to take flights or trains, many essential workers, too, took the trains,” an official said.

Usually, Chennai Metro Rail runs trains every five minutes during peak hours and every seven minutes for the rest of the day. But on Sunday, it ran trains at a very minimal frequency due to the lockdown and in total, only four trains were operated for the services. From Wimco Nagar to Chennai airport, trains were run every hour and from Chennai Central to Chennai airport and from Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount, every two hours respectively.

“We are quite surprised that without any last mile connectivity and during the lockdown, so many commuters used the metro,” he added.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/nearly-5000-passengers-took-chennai-metro-on-sunday/article34418743.ece