Delhi Metro 'second-most unaffordable' transport network in world: CSE

Delhi Metro that faced flak from the commuters and the Kejriwal government over fare rise last year, is the world’s second most expensive mass rapid transit system, says a report by the Centre for Science and Environment.

CSE did an analysis of what it takes to keep public transport and overall journey costs affordable for all city dwellers while modernising the systems. This is needed to ensure that new investments in modern systems – be it the Metro, or bus rapid transit systems, or modern and electric buses – can lead to an effective shift in ridership from personal vehicles to public transport in all Indian cities.

Delhi Metro saw a sudden drop in ridership following the fare hike (in May and October 2017) – approximately by 420,000 passengers by 2018, the report said.

Even though the report said that there was no absolute threshold to define affordability of public transport but internationally it is generally accepted that about 10-15 per cent of household income can be spent on transport as the upper cap for a system to be accepted as affordable.

AAP govt or Centre cannot fix Delhi Metro fares; there's panel for it: Puri

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday that the decision to hike the price of Delhi Metro was taken by the fare fixation committee and neither the Delhi government nor the Central government has authority to decide.

"When fare is increased, its impact is studied by taking in account data of at least two to three months. Neither Delhi government nor the Central government has authority to decide fares of Delhi Metro, only fare fixation committee can do that," he told ANI.

According to an RTI reply, over three lakh commuters stopped taking Delhi Metro in October after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) increased the passenger fare for the second time this year.

As part of the two phase revision of Metro fares recommended by the committee, the fare would remain Rs. 10 for the first 2 km but will subsequently increase by Rs. 10 in each slab, going up to a maximum of Rs. 60.

The metro fares were last revised in May when the minimum tariff was raised from Rs. 8 to Rs. 10.

The revised fare structure is: up to 2 km - Rs. 10, 2-5 km - Rs. 20, 5-12 km - Rs. 30, 12-21 km - Rs. 40, 21-32 km - Rs. 50 and for journeys beyond 32 km - Rs. 60.
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