CHENNAI: Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has increased train frequency on the Blue Line during peak hours to ease crowding and reduce waiting times, following a sustained rise in passenger numbers.
The revised timetable, effective immediately, applies during the morning peak from 8 am to 11 am and the evening rush between 5 pm and 8 pm on the Airport–Wimco Nagar Depot stretch.
Under the new schedule, services between Airport Metro and Arignar Anna Alandur Metro will continue at six-minute intervals during peak hours. The most significant change is on the central stretch between Arignar Anna Alandur Metro and Washermenpet Metro, where trains will now run uniformly every three minutes, replacing the previous mix of three- and six-minute intervals. Services between Washermenpet Metro and Wimco Nagar Depot Metro will continue at six-minute intervals.
The higher frequency is expected to reduce platform congestion and improve travel comfort without affecting operational efficiency.
Separately, CMRL reiterated that balances on lost metro travel cards will neither be transferred nor refunded, citing technical and regulatory constraints linked to offline payment wallets.
Commuters primarily use CMRL travel cards and Singara Chennai National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) for metro travel and parking payments. Once a card is lost, any remaining balance becomes irrecoverable, and the risk of misuse rests with the cardholder, Chennai Metro said.
According to CMRL, funds stored on the offline wallet of an NCMC card cannot be blocked remotely if the card is misplaced. As a result, issuers are unable to freeze balances in real time, making refunds or balance transfers technically infeasible.
“These limitations arise from regulatory guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India, as well as issuer policies governing offline wallets,” CMRL said. Under these rules, the risk associated with offline stored value lies with the cardholder, unlike online wallets or accounts, which can be blocked instantly.