KOCHI: Metro services are witnessing a heavy rush of commuters, especially school students and office-goers, from Tuesday morning on account of the statewide strike indulged in by private buses operators.
"We've experienced twice the normal ridership from 6.30 to 7.30 am and then from 8 am onwards. We've increased the frequency of metro services for which we have injected two additional cars," said a KMRL spokesperson.
The daily average ridership has inched closer to one lakh. Going by the trend, the ridership figures are expected to touch record figures on Tuesday.
The current daily record achieved is 1.3 lakh commuters on December 31, 2024, New Year eve.
Private buses remained off the road from Tuesday morning following the warning strike indulged in by private buses operators. Their talks with the Transport Commmissioner failed on Monday after a series of demands including allocating long distance permits (over 140 kms) were rejected by the government.
The KSRTC is conducting additional services, but it proved to be grossly inadequate as nearly 10000 pvt buses remained off the roads on Tuesday.