Nagpur: Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) has decided to rationalise its fare wherein it is offering 33 percent rebate from March 1 onwards. The move is seen to attract more commuters to the mass rapid transit system that of late has not seen its ridership cross the one lakh mark as yet.
Apart from lowering the fare, Maha Metro has also decided to introduce a cash back feature to further provide incentive for regular travellers. As per the scheme, in case a traveller having a Maha Card purchases Rs 800 worth of tickets the person will be entitled for 10 percent cash back, which means they would get 10 points. This is apart from the existing 10 percent discount on Maha Card. The policy is going to be announced soon.
Wenesday Rate
Wed 25 Dec. 2024
The Maha Metro release mentioned that the new fare structure would not disturb the current rebates offered to students that would remain intact. Students are entitled for 30 percent rebate in metro fare. The idea behind reducing the fare is to portray the metro as the most suitable travel mode for commuters during the summer season. During summer the temperatures are known to soar to nearly 45 degrees Celsius and during that time riding on the road is quite uncomfortable. Hence during such times, the metro can be best suited as people can travel in air conditioned coaches and also avoid the traffic jams on city roads.
The lowering of fare means in case a person is travelling from Sitabuldi Interchange to Lokmanya Nagar then current fare is Rs. 30 which from March 1 will be Rs. 25 and for students with additional 30 percent rebate it will be Rs. 18 only. Also other concessions are available for commuters namely 30 percent off in fare on Gazetted holidays and similar offer is also applicable on travel on weekends.
Also one can undertake trips during a day for Rs. 100. At present Phase-I of Nagpur Metro is complete and its spans 40 km on two routes, one is Orange that stretches from Khapri (in MIHAN) to Automotive Square (on Kamptee Road) and other is Aqua Line that is from Lokmanya Nagar on Hingna Road to Prajapati Nagar near Kalamna.
At present the metro services are available ex-Khapri, Automotive Square, Prajapati Nagar and Lokmanya Nagar terminal stations every 15 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm. But during the peak hours that is between 8 and 11 am and in the evening from 4 to 7 pm the metro service runs every 10 minutes. In case the ridership increases further, then the gap between the services can be reduced further to ensure faster travel for commuters.
The rationalisation of fare was necessary as the last round of hike halved the number of travellers on Nagpur Metro. The highest ridership registered was 2.2 lakhs on January 1, 2023, but that was mostly joy riders enjoying the first day of new year and was engaged in revelry. The daily ridership is however hovering between 50,000 and 70,000 and post three years of operations this is not substantial.
Meanwhile, Maha Metro to boost the ridership has introduced shared auto rickshaw services at eight metro stations that solves the major problem of last mile connectivity. Also in association with Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), a shuttle bus service is reintroduced from Airport Metro station to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport. Maha Metro is trying to provide shared auto services at remaining stations also that would provide ease in reaching the metro stations and also commuting from respective points.
