JAYAKUMAR MADALA
CHENNAI: The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on Wednesday launched “Office Ride”, a shuttle service between the Alandur Metro railway station to different Information Technology (IT) parks around the vicinity to facilitate corporate employees.
The shuttle service, which intends to improve the last mile connectivity of metro services, will connect Ascendas IT Park, Global Info City, SIPCOT, ELCOT and RMZ Business Park to the Alandur metro station. Services are planned between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The service can be availed by booking through mobile application, Office Ride. Once the seat is booked through it, the vehicle is allotted based on the number of bookings”, said, Pandian, Public Relations Officer, CMRL.
He added, “The shuttle buses will have air conditioning and Wi-Fi facilities. The users will be charged approximately Rs.50 per ride. They need not pay cash and can remit digital payments – internet banking, digital wallets, debit and credit cards”.
Although inaugurated, the services are yet to be open to the public.
Pon Abinaya (25), an employee at a private company at Ascendas IT Park said, “Every day I catch a share auto to reach my office, instead a punctual and regular service could reduce the burden of looking for a means to reach my office”.
A CMRL release added that the shuttle service will be expanded to various other metro stations based on crowd-sourced route suggestions.
The Office ride shuttle services are launched in collaboration with Ford Motor Company and are the second of this kind, after the introduction of CMRL Feeder Service, which was introduced last August to connect various neighbourhoods around metro stations.
EOM
CITY PULSE 