Indore News: City Metro Turns Into Liability, Operations Cut To Just 2 Round Trips

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The operational burden of the Indore Metro is increasingly turning into a liability for the Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL). Facing mounting maintenance costs and low ridership, the corporation has decided to drastically curtail the metro’s operating hours.

Starting Monday (October 6), Indore Metro services will now run for only four hours daily from 3 PM to 7 PM. Moreover, the trains will operate just once every two hours, marking the sharpest reduction in operational frequency since the service’s launch.

According to MPMRCL officials, the decision has been taken to facilitate the ongoing testing, integration and commissioning work along the entire Priority Corridor, which covers all 16 metro stations from Gandhi Nagar to Radisson Square (Malviya Nagar Chauraha).

However, insiders admit that the move also reflects the corporation’s growing struggle to justify operational costs amid dismal passenger turnout and high electricity expenses.

When the metro began its trial operations earlier this year, trains ran from 8 AM to 8 PM every 30 minutes. Over time, as ridership failed to pick up, the service window kept shrinking. In the first cut down from June 23, it was operated from 10 AM - 6 PM one round trip every hour. When that too proved costly,  then from August 4 it was run from 1 PM to 7 PM once every hour. Later, from September 22 it operated from 3 PM to 7 PM once every hour.

Now, the October schedule slashes frequency further, allowing just two round trips per day.

Officials maintain that the restriction is “temporary” and aimed at ensuring timely corridor completion, but transport analysts warn that such limited operations will make the metro virtually unusable for commuters.

[Story by Staff Reporter]