Revenue increasing as patronage goes up

  • | Thursday | 22nd February, 2018

This works out to a daily loss of ?22 lakh, vis a vis the daily expenditure of ?38 lakh, when daily passenger patronage was 27,000. He cited the examples of Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur and Bengaluru metros which enjoyed an average daily patronage of 8,000, 8,900, 17,000 and 23,000 respectively during the first year. The increase in passenger patronage in January and February and revenue from advertisements has led to the daily loss falling from ?22 lakh to ?19 lakh. Elaborating on non-ticketing revenue, he said that wrapping metro coaches with ads was expected to bring in ?2.98 crore per year. The sale of commercial space attached to major stations would further augment revenue, since many major players too had evinced interest.

more-in Ticket fares of Kochi metro will not be slashed since it has more ridership than what other metro systems in India had in the first year of operation, KMRL’s managing director A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish has said. The current daily ridership of 36,000 will further increase when the monthly pass (for which fare discount is awaited) is issued in three months, he said. Passengers using Kochi-1 pre-paid card are already getting 20 per cent discount. He cited the examples of Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur and Bengaluru metros which enjoyed an average daily patronage of 8,000, 8,900, 17,000 and 23,000 respectively during the first year. While Delhi metro recorded an operational loss of ?167 crore in its first year, it was ?116 crore for Chennai metro and ?51.64 crore for Bengaluru metro. For Kochi metro, the first six months since its was launched in June 2017 recorded a loss of ?39.60 crore. This works out to a daily loss of ?22 lakh, vis a vis the daily expenditure of ?38 lakh, when daily passenger patronage was 27,000. The first year’s loss might thus be approximately ?60 crore. The increase in passenger patronage in January and February and revenue from advertisements has led to the daily loss falling from ?22 lakh to ?19 lakh. The average monthly loss has thus decreased from ?6.60 crore in 2017 to ?5.7 crore in 2018. This is expected to further fall to ?5 crore by June, since there is a potential to increase the daily income to ?25 lakh, Mr. Hanish said. Many passengers, who availed of the 40-day discount offer during November-December when commuters could travel on the return trip for the fare of a single trip, have become loyal commuters of the metro. The recent four-day private bus stir too resulted in hundreds of bus passengers shifting to the metro. Elaborating on non-ticketing revenue, he said that wrapping metro coaches with ads was expected to bring in ?2.98 crore per year. Advertisements on inside and outside of stations would bring in ?5.87 crore, while advertising on piers and medians had fetched ?5.5 crore. Semi-naming rights of stations brought in ?9.2 crore for Edappally and MG Road, while Kaloor fetched ?1.81crore. The sale of commercial space attached to major stations would further augment revenue, since many major players too had evinced interest. The fee for film shooting and rent from ATM counters in stations was yet another revenue source. Mr. Hanish reminded that no metro system had achieved break-even from ticketing revenue alone. The integrated Metro Village proposed in 17 acres of PWD land in Kakkanad could fetch a good amount for the metro’s operation and maintenance. The State government’s approval is awaited for this.

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