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Metro ridership dips, but ticket revenue shoots up

Mumbaikars are price-sensitive when it comes to travelling in the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro.

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Mumbaikars are price-sensitive when it comes to travelling in the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro.

Immediately after the fare hike, there has been a drastic dip in the number of people opting for the latest air-conditioned mode of rail travel. Around 40,000 commuters now prefer buses or autorickshaws to reach their destination.

For the Mumbai Metro management, however, despite the decrease in the total number of commuters post-hike, the ticketing revenue has shot up.

As per the figures available with dna, when the Metro fares were Rs10-15-20, the ridership was around 3 lakh daily. On Monday, January 5, 3.04 lakh passengers travelled in it and on January 6 the figure was 3.03 lakh. But on the corresponding Monday (January 12), 2.67 lakh opted for it and the next day 2.63 lakh.

"There has been a dip in ridership by around 40,000 daily, if we compare the corresponding days before and after the fare increase," said an official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

On January 8, the Bombay High Court had ruled in favour of Reliance Infrastructure (Reliance Energy, as per the petition copy) which has majority stake in Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), and allowed it to increase the ticket rates to Rs10-20-30-40. The following day, MMOPL implemeted the revised rates.

Hence, if ticketing revenue figures are compared, despite the dip in ridership the collection from ticket sales has shot up due to prices being doubled.

On January 5 and 6, the collection was Rs69.5 lakh and Rs52.4 lakh, respectively, as against Rs81.81 lakh and Rs68.6 lakh on January 12 and 13, respectively.

Ticket pricing is still a bone of contention between RInfra and MMRDA. A couple of days ago, a three-member Fare Fixation Committee was formed to decide Mumbai Metro fare. The state plans to move court to get a stay over the revised rates.

"Worldwide with fare increase some reduction in ridership is always observed. But it stabilises in due course of time. Therefore, these initial figures cannot be considered as a reliable traffic trend," claimed MMOPL spokesperson.

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