CMRL planning promo tickets to spur patronage

CHENNAI: To increase the daily average patronage, the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) is planning to introduce promotional tickets for select passengers. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the same is being prepared and will be released soon.

Speaking to DT Next, a top official of the CMRL said, “After studying the potential passengers, we will be rolling out the promotional tickets on a case-bycase basis. As we are almost ready with SOP, we will soon be introducing the initiative.”

“Through this, we are anticipating a further increase in daily average ridership to 2.50 lakh and more,” the official added.

Our team will thoroughly assess and target potential passengers like college students, IT professionals and residents located near metro stations for increasing patronage

— Senior official, CMRL

According to officials, the promotional tickets are likely to be given either free or at a discount. These tickets, however, will be non-transferable. It will be given for 15 days to one month, as per the market study, cost-effectiveness and other factors.

The target passengers for these tickets will be studied by the CMRL marketing team.

CMRL has been witnessing a steady increase in ridership this year. In April, the ridership was at 66.85 lakh passengers.

To increase its patronage, CMRL has also been adopting various strategies like strengthening last mile connectivity, sufficient parking and collaborations with other institutions like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and screening of IPL matches.