Bhopal Metro service (file photo)
Digital Desk, Bhopal. One month has passed since the operation of Bhopal Metro started, but after the initial enthusiasm, its financial health is becoming a matter of concern. The daily cost of running the metro on the seven kilometer long Priority Corridor from Subhash Nagar to AIIMS is about Rs 8 lakh, while in comparison the income is limited to only around Rs 15 thousand. The balance sheet of the first month of service, which started from December 21, itself tells the story of huge losses.
Due to low passenger numbers, the metro management has reduced four morning trips from January 5. While earlier the metro was making 17 trips daily, now this number has come down to 13. Despite this, there has been no significant improvement in the income, which has further increased the concern of the management.
Brainstorming on increasing rounds, but questions remain
The monthly operating expenses of Bhopal Metro are said to be around Rs 2.5 crore. That is, the metro is being run by spending lakhs of rupees every day, but due to lack of passengers, the income is not as expected. To recover from the losses, the management is considering increasing the trips by two to three times, but the question is that when the passengers are not increasing, will increasing the trips really be beneficial?
Expectation of earning from advertisements
To compensate for the losses, the Metro management is also looking at alternative income sources. Under this, tenders have been floated to lease advertising space at eight metro stations of the Priority Corridor. At present the tenders are yet to be opened, but it is expected that the Metro's income will increase through these.
Metro becomes more of a 'joy ride' than a daily journey
People are currently seeing Bhopal Metro as a 'joy ride' rather than a daily mode of transportation. This is the reason why the number of passengers increases on weekends, whereas on normal days the situation remains very weak. While in the beginning about 7 thousand passengers were traveling daily, now this number has come down to just 300 to 350 every day.
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Overall, the biggest challenge before Bhopal Metro is to increase the confidence and number of passengers, otherwise this modern transport system may be seen derailing into losses.
Unless the Metro gets end-to-end connectivity, a major increase in revenue is not possible. Signaling work will be completed by March, after which additional trips can be run and this may generate some additional income.- S. Krishna Chaitanya, MD, MP Metro
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