The Chennai Metro conducted a trial run with a 2.5-minute frequency of trains on Saturday that went on till Sunday morning.
To hold this trial, the direct train lines from Chennai Central metro rail to Chennai airport were suspended and passengers had to change stations at Alandur metro station.
According to reports, direct trains were suspended from 8 pm onwards and the trial run began at 10 pm from St Thomas Mount Metro Station to Chennai Central Metro station with trains being made available every 2.5 minutes.
The trial runs are being conducted by the Chennai metro to change train frequencies to every 2.5 minutes. Currently, trains arrive at a frequency of one every 5 minutes during peak hours, one every 7 minutes during non-peak hours and one every 15 minutes during extended non-peak hours.
The Chennai Metro has conducted trial sessions earlier too, to change the frequency of trains to 2.5 minutes.
According to reports, the Chennai Metro has seen a spike in the number of users taking the metro over the last 8 months. In August 2018, the daily patronage of Chennai metro crossed over 1 lakh for 19 days, according to TOI. In August of this year, over 26 lakh passengers used the metro, which is over 10 lakh more than the number of patrons in January 2019.
The metro rail had also increased the train frequency in August 2019 to cater to their growing number of patrons.