Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore’s much-awaited metro, running on the 5.9 km priority corridor, has completed one month of commercial operations but the initial excitement seems to have faded rapidly.
On June 1, 2025, the metro carried a robust 26,803 passengers. However, just a month later on July 1, the number shockingly dropped to only 680 passengers a drastic decline of 97.46% in daily ridership.
In the early days of operation, the Indore Metro witnessed an overwhelming response, with over 25k passengers using the service daily. But the trend did not sustain.
Public's preference
Now, on most weekdays, the metro is seeing fewer than 500 passengers. Only on weekends does ridership cross the 1,000 mark, signaling a limited preference for leisure travel over daily commuting.
During the first week, over 1.43 lakh passengers used the metro. By comparison, in the most recent full week, only 11,579 passengers boarded the trains.
Even the previous week recorded just 15,947 riders. The significant fall in ridership prompted the Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) to revise both the metro’s schedule and fare structure.
From June 23, 2025, the metro’s operational hours were reduced to 10 am to 6 pm on weekdays, with a train every 1 hour. On weekends, the metro runs from 8 am to 8 pm, with a frequency of every 30 minutes. Despite the reduced services, the metro has also reportedly started running 15 minutes late, raising concerns about punctuality.
Initially, passengers enjoyed free rides, followed by 75% and 50% fare discounts. At present, they receive a 25% discount, but even this seems insufficient to maintain interest. Additionally, the minimum fare has been revised to Rs 15, and the maximum fare to Rs 23.
The metro's formal inauguration was held virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 31. However, with falling ridership and rising operational concerns, the metro administration has been forced to make the system demand-based to manage costs.
