Govt Slams Report Claiming Delhi Metro World's Second Most Unaffordable

A report suggests that Delhi Metro’s ridership has dropped by 4.2 lakh in the wake of fare hike. A study conducted by the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) says that the total number of passengers is down by 32 per cent and stands at just 27 lakh. In 2016, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) served 40 lakh passengers.

It “is symptomatic of the lack of overall policy for pricing of all transport services and a lack of strategy for funding of these systems and increasing ridership,” is CSE’s opinion. 

The Centre and the DMRC have, however, said that the report is "misleading and falsification of facts". They said the conclusion that the Delhi Metro network was the second most unaffordable in the world is ill founded since the took into account only nine Metro systems across the globe. DMRC MD Mangu Singh said that fares of the Metro in cities such as Lucknow, Kochi and Chennai were higher than that of the Delhi Metro.

Mapping the reasons

According to a UBS report, an average Delhiite spends 14 per cent of their household income on their commute, second only to Metro commuters in in Vietnam's Hanoi. For about 30 per cent of Delhiites, the spend may go up to 19.5 per cent. As per CSE's calculations, an unskilled daily-wage labourer in Delhi has to spend an average of eight per cent of his or her income by travelling on a non-AC bus, 14 per cent for an AC bus and 22 per cent on the Delhi Metro. 

Officials are of the opinion that a fare hike was inevitable given that the Metro infrastructure and facilities had to be maintained. 

Taking stock of  Metro facilities

Despite the hike, certain improvements are yet to be seen. These include last mile connectivity and feeder bus services. Meanwhile, the number of those using their personal vehicles are on the rise resulting into greenhouse gas emissions. While the government is looking at bringing in 3,000 buses, infrastructure to incorporate it, such as bus shelters, is still fragile.

‘No more hikes in near future’ 

Early this month, Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that another hike was unlikely in the near future. The two-phase hike in May and October last year almost doubled the Metro fares, affecting ridership. In early August this year, DMRC said that the ridership was slowly going up.