Metro Rail officials said that a rebound in ridership is expected after mid-June, as students return, but stressed the need for improved last-mile connectivity to reach their long-term goal of 7.75 lakh passengers every day.

| Photo Credit: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

Exam season and summer vacation have together created a dent in Chennai Metro Rail system’s ridership in the last two months. During the months of April and May, Chennai Metro Rail saw a daily average of three lakh and 2.90 lakh people using the trains respectively.This is a 11.5% dip in the number of people travelling when compared to March which witnessed an average of 3.28 lakh passengers commuting every day.According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), nearly 30% of the people who use the system comprise school and college students. “Hence, for these two months, April and May, when the final examinations are held and the institutions break for vacation, we see a reduction in the ridership. After June 15, the number of people travelling will significantly increase,” an official said.Officials said, this is a pattern they see every year when the trains carry lesser number of commuters during exam and holiday season. For instance, in April and May 2025, CMRL recorded an average daily ridership of 2.91 lakh and 2.87 lakh passengers as against 2.97 lakh in March 2025. In June, the ridership was 3.07 lakh.CMRL has a long way to go to achieve its projected ridership of 7.75 lakh travellers a day. “Unless we are able to create a robust last-mile connectivity system wherein feeder vehicles such as buses and share auto-rickshaws get closer to the doorstep of commuters, it will be hard to draw a significant number of new commuters. We also expect a rise in the ridership when the first stretch of the phase II project from Poonamallee to Vadapalani is launched,” he added.A decade has passed since the commencement of Chennai Metro Rail services, yet, a well-developed last mile connectivity system has not become a reality. Published - June 01, 2026 09:33 pm IST