The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) incurred loss of ₹80 crore due to the service suspension which lasted for several months after COVID-19 hit the city.
In response to a question raised by Member of Parliament Benny Behanan in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said CMRL had reported a loss of ₹80 crore during the lockdown.
Before the pandemic, CMRL used to run trains from 4.30 a.m. to 11 p.m., totalling nearly 650 trips, carrying an average of 1.15 lakh passengers each day.
Sources said the firm used to earn nearly ₹12-₹14 crore each month, inclusive of fare and non-fare box revenue. But now services run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with just 450 trips and 15,000-16,000 passengers a day.
Train timings may soon be increased by an hour if more people use the service.
Sources in CMRL said though they were able to meet the operational expenditure with the revenue they used to get, it could now pose a challenge.
“Right now, fewer people are travelling because of the pandemic. So, revenue is likely to dip significantly. But we cannot help it,” a source said.
Various austerity measures were on the anvil to tackle the lockdown-induced financial stress but these would not affect passengers or train services, sources said.
The Delhi Metro Rail suffered the maximum loss of ₹1,609 crore and this was followed by the Bengaluru Metro Rail with ₹170 crore and the Kochi Metro Rail faced a loss of ₹34 crore.
