Data from Chennai division of Southern Railway shows that there has been a jump in the number of passengers buying monthly season tickets, which shows that people have made a long-term switch from buses to railways, thanks to the recent bus fare hike.
The Southern Railway said that it has made Rs 2 additional revenue in the past one week, as more number of people are using its services after bus fares were increased in Tamil Nadu.
Data given by Railways shows that there has been an increase of 7.95 lakh passengers in the January 20- January 26 period as compared to the seven-day period in the preceeding year, which corresponds to an additional revenue of Rs 1.96 crore as compared to 2017.
A total of 2.06 lakh more bookings were made through ATVMs generating a revenue of Rs 31 lakh more than the same period in 2017. Recently, the Tamil Nadu government increased ticket rates of buses, a move which met stiff opposition from political parties and public.
The DMK-led opposition on Monday held protests across Tamil Nadu to demand a full rollback of the recent bus fare hike, with police detaining DMK's M K Stalin and MDMK's Vaiko for blocking roads in the capital.
Reacting to the protests, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said it was done to pressure, the government.
Palaniswami blamed the opposition DMK for the financial woes of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and appealed to the public to understand the circumstances that led to the recent hike in bus fares.
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