Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has started giving out contracts for branding stations to raise Non-Fare revenue. Chennai Metro’s Nandanam station has been given a new look with its wall painted all red. Officials said contracts were awarded and now The Muthoot Group’s name has been added to the name of the station. Soon, a few other Chennai metro stations too will sport a new look with different colours and popular brands prefixing their names.
“Soon, Teynampet and Thousand Lights will have names of brands,” an official said. After Nandanam metro station caught the attention of the Chennaiites, officials said many firms have already approached them to affix brand names in the upcoming phase-2 stations. Metrorail officials said they have awarded contracts for renaming and branding of Teynampet and Nandanam metro to Vas Media and Thousand Lights metro station to Spencer Plaza.
“Other firms and brands are showing interest in our phase-2 stations. A private hospital wants to affix its name to the Alwarpet station after it begins operation,” an official said. While many more stations would soon be renamed with well-known brands, for CMRL, this exercise is one of the avenues to generate non-fare revenue.
“Maximising options to generate non-fare revenue helps in keeping the ticket fares low and operating efficiently,” an official said.
Earlier, CMRL floated tenders to sell advertisement space on the pillars of the elevated corridors where brands can install boards with colourful lights. But so far, there seem to be no takers. While low patronage is cited as one of the reasons for the poor use of ad space in stations and trains, with the opening of another 9km line in North Chennai, CMRL officials said their patronage may go up by 30% which will, in turn, attract more firms and bring additional revenue.