KOLKATA (Metro Rail News): Indian Railways is taking various initiatives to increase non-fare revenue to boost earnings apart from the traditional sources of income. As part of Indian Railways, Metro Railway has played a pivotal role in this initiative. As a result, various innovative steps have been taken to increase its revenue, which is generally dependent on passenger earnings.
As part of that endeavour, Metro Railway has been focussing on the earnings through advertisements inside and outside Metro rakes, hoardings in open space and earnings from new sources like installing health check-up kiosks at different stations etc.
Metro Railway has earned Rs. 16.61 crores from April 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022, and ranked fifth amongst all the Zonal Railways of Indian Railways in cumulative non-fare revenue (NFR) earnings, with only 34 stations. On the other hand, during the corresponding period of the last financial year 2021-22, cumulative earnings from the NFR of the Metro Railway were only Rs 4.96 crores.
This apart, Metro Railway has also implemented innovative ideas like station co-branding, trackside walls branding, Card Balance Checking Terminal (CBCT) branding, Automatic Smart Card Recharge Machine (ASCRM) branding, AFC-PC Gates and Flap Branding, Installation of food kiosks, Smart Card Branding, Token Branding etc. This has helped to increase the non-fare revenue to a great extent.
