Buoyed by Kochi Metro’s daily patronage touching 54,504 on December 11, the second time it crossed the 50,000 figure post-pandemic, KMRL has decided to increase the frequency of train services from Saturday.
Thus, the time gap between metro services will be 6.15 minutes, instead of 7 minutes during peak hours on Mondays and Saturdays. It will be 7.30 minutes instead of 8.15 minutes during non-peak hours. On Sundays, the time between two services would be 9 minutes instead of 10 minutes during both peak and non-peak hours.
With the change in train frequency, there will be 271 services/trips on Saturdays and Mondays. An additional train will be kept as standby, to cater to any surge in passenger demand, to ensure social distancing, the metro agency has informed.
It attributed the rise in ridership to discounts in ticket rates, free passes on special days and hosting of a variety of programmes at stations.
From Saturday, metro stations will come alive with a Christmas event named Frosty Fest 2021, wherein the public can join competitions like star making, carol singing, crib making, Christmas tree decoration and Santa Claus competition.
