High footfall increases Kolkata Metro's earnings

KOLKATA: Kolkata Metro Railway’s passenger count and earnings have increased during the three-and-a-half months months of this financial year.
From April 1 to July 15, Metro Railway carried 597.63 lakh passengers in comparison to 592.11 lakh passengers carried in the same period of the previous financial year (2018-2019), i.e. an increase of 5.52 lakhs.
Earnings have also gone up during the same period from Rs.5696.36 lakh to Rs. 5724.47 lakh i.e. an increase of Rs. 28.11 lakhs.
Metro relies totally on passengers for direct revenue. Normally, the operating ratio of a passenger-centric railway zone hovers around the 170-180 mark. It is much higher for the Metro as the fares are highly subsidized and there has been no restructuring in the last several years. Most passengers travel for only a single zone and the fare continues to remain Rs 5 despite several appeals by the Metro to the Railway Board.
“In 2017-18, Metro’s operating ratio was 278. This means that Metro spent Rs 278 to earn every Rs 100. In 2018-19, the operating ratio fell to 253. This is a drop of nearly 9%. We are trying to lower it further but will have to tap into other sources of revenue such as earnings from letting out space and advertisements,” a senior Metro official said.