In this fiscal up to January 2025, the passenger growth of Metro Railway, Kolkata has been 15.39 % higher than the corresponding period of the last year. Metro Railway has carried 18.52 crore passengers till January 2025 in comparison to 16.05 crores (which is 2.47 crores higher) during the corresponding period of the last year.
For ferrying this huge number of passengers, Metro Railway has been giving huge amount of subsidy for the benefit of the commuters. Metro fares in Kolkata are minimum in the country and have not been increased for a long time. Till January 2025 of this financial year, the operational loss of Metro Railway has been Rs 224.68 crores in comparison to 207.90 crores incurred during the same period of the last fiscal.
In order to increase the revenue, Metro Railway authorities have been taking different measures without affecting commuters’ interest. Metro Railway has been focusing on generating revenues through branding of litter bins at stations, displaying advertisements inside and outside Metro rakes, displaying hoardings in open spaces and installing health check-up kiosks at different stations, handle chain branding etc. Apart from this, Metro Railway has also implemented innovative ideas like Track Sidewalls Branding, Card Balance Checking Terminal (CBCT) Branding, Automatic Smart Card Recharge Machine (ASCRM) Branding, AFC-PC Gates and Flap Branding, installation of food kiosks, Smart Card and Token Branding, installing digital display screens inside rakes for providing infotainment to commuters etc. The operating ratio of Metro Railway is 236 at the end of January 2025.
Digital transactions in passenger business have crossed 30% during last month. Metro Railway has requested passengers to adopt more digital transaction and book tickets on-line before reaching the stations to avoid the rush in front of the booking counters.
