Ever wondered how punctual the Chennai Metro trains are? Turns out that, despite the signalling failures that strike the system, the trains have recorded a punctuality rate of over 98% for the last four years now.

Chennai Metro, built at a cost of ₹14,600 crore, began its first service four years ago in the 8-km stretch between Koyambedu and Alandur. Since then, trains have recorded a punctuality rate of 98.01%, 99.43%, 99.78% and 99.6% for the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), even the last four months this year, there has been an average of nearly 99% punctuality of trains.

“We have had several signalling and other technical issues these four years and despite that we managed to achieve a good punctuality rate. Except for days when there are technical glitches of some sort, trains run sharp on time. The average drops to 99% or 98% only because of these issues,” an official said.

Officials said the trains running on time is one of the primary reasons for getting some patronage at least.

More patronage

At present, the average number of people travelling has grown from 90,000 to 95,000 a day. Even when there was a strike by a section of CMRL employees a few weeks ago and signalling failure was deliberately caused by a few of them, substantial number of people travelled. “We expect this will grow by another 20% when the contractor who has been appointed to provide share cars to all stations begins providing the last mile connectivity”