Chennai Metro crosses one crore passengers in September 2026: ticket and discount details

Chennai Metro Rail Limited recorded more than one crore passenger journeys in September 2026. Its official release says 1,00,26,601 passengers travelled on the network between September 1 and September 30.

Highest daily passenger flow

The busiest day of the month was September 11, when 3,93,580 passengers used Chennai Metro. The monthly figure shows how important the network has become for daily trips, event travel and interchange journeys across the city.

Which ticket products were used

The Singara Chennai Card and NCMC category accounted for 51,95,408 passenger journeys. Single-journey paper QR tickets accounted for 18,82,030, while ONDC ticketing accounted for 12,33,659. WhatsApp ticketing recorded 4,34,487 journeys.

Other recorded channels included Chennai One, Paytm, PhonePe, static QR tickets at stations, online bookings and the CMRL mobile app. The mix suggests that passengers are not relying on one ticketing channel: stored-value cards, QR tickets and third-party digital options all have a role in the network.

Discount reminder

CMRL says it offers a 20% discount on NCMC card and digital QR ticketing services, including WhatsApp, Paytm, PhonePe and the digital store-value pass available through the CMRL mobile app. The discount does not apply to single-journey paper QR tickets purchased at station counters.

Passengers should check the app or operator notice for the current ticketing steps before travelling. A digital ticket is useful only if the phone is charged and the QR code can be displayed at the gate.

The September milestone also comes as Chennai’s Phase 2 network continues to expand. A new Corridor 4 section between Poonamallee Bypass and Vadapalani started passenger service in October, which may change future ridership patterns.

All passenger totals and ticket-channel figures in this report come from CMRL’s October 1, 2026 press release.