On Friday, October 7, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) announced that the metro rail’s operating hours would be extended to 11 p.m. The new rule will go into effect on Monday, October 10th.
In a statement issued on Friday, NVS Reddy, Managing Director of HMRL, stated that the last train will depart at 11 p.m. from respective terminal stations, while the first trains will depart at the usual 6 a.m. At the moment, the last train departs from the terminal stations at 10.15 p.m.
The decision to extend metro hours comes just about a month after the Hyderabad Metro experienced its highest footfall since the pandemic on September 9, during the immersion of Ganesh idols.
Over 4 lakh passengers used the metro rail service that day. The average daily ridership on the Hyderabad metro is now around 3.78 lakh, while it was over 4 lakh prior to COVID-19.
Footfall in the Hyderabad metro has increased significantly since employees were asked to return to work, resulting in a demand for increased train frequency.
Earlier in June, a spokesperson from L&T was reported as saying that with the outbreak of COVID-19, metro services were suspended for 169 days from March 22 till September 6, 2020. After the unlock, the metro resumed its services from September 7, 2020 in phases with all COVID-19 safety protocols. We continued to serve the city with truncated operations even during the second and third waves of COVID, including the state-wide night curfews and lockdowns.
Passenger ridership has been very high during office hours as more and more offices have begun to recall their employees to work in the office. “Currently, Hyderabad Metro Rail is steadily recovering, and in the last few months, we have seen approximately 3 lakh passengers daily. Passenger ridership is high during office hours, both morning and evening,” the spokesperson added.
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