‘If passenger load swells, Metro service duration may increase’

LUCKNOW : The Lucknow Metro can increase its duration of services if it gets more passenger load. MD Lucknow Metro Kumar Keshav said, “If we start getting good business and good passenger load, there is no harm in increasing the timings of Metro services.” Presently, the Metro provides services from 6am to 10pm daily. The increase in timing is likely as the LMRC officials are expecting a sudden spurt in passenger load once the services on the entire 23-km stretch become operational.

Presently, around 12,500 passengers travel from Transport Nagar to Charbagh daily but this load is expected to increase to around 2lakh passengers per day during first two months after 23km stretch becomes operational. Within eight to 10 months, the number of passengers is expected to go up to 4 lakh per day. In this situation, the metro would be required to increase the number of rounds per day and increase the number of coaches

from 4 to 6. The LMRC officials said, as many as 1,310 passengers could travel in four coaches at a time. Out of the total passengers, only 186 could sit while the rest could travel standing.

If two more coaches are added to it, the capacity of the train would increase to around 1,980 passengers. The officials said that the coaches of Lucknow are most modern and have all the safety features for the passengers.