KOCHI: Kochi Metro Rail recorded its highest footfall and revenue of the year 2022 on new year’s eve. According to KMRL, a total of 1,22,897 people commuted on the metro rail after it extended the services till 1 am, considering the late-night travel in the city following the New Year celebrations.
The Kochi metro extended timings up to 1 am to make the commute easy and safe for people who are attending the new year celebrations late into the night. Officials said Kochi metro has been clocking over 1 lakh commuters on days when the city hosts Indian Super League (ISL) football with home team Kerala Blasters playing.
The second-highest ridership for 2022 was on June 17, 2022, the foundation day of KMRL. On that day, the metro saw a ridership of 1,12,628. And the third-highest footfall was recorded on December 26, 2022, when its ridership touched 1,12,521. “Both the revenue and footfalls hit a record on new year’s eve. Since December 26, the ridership has been crossing 90,000/day on all days,” said the KMRL spokesperson.
It was on September 12, 2019, that the metro crossed the one-lakh ridership for the first time. That was immediately after the inauguration of the new stretch from Maharaja’s College Ground to Thykoodam on September 3, 2019. Before Covid, the metro ridership had crossed the one-lakh mark at least three times.