New Delhi: Delhi Metro created a new record on Monday by registering the highest passenger journeys at 78.67 lakh. With an Air Quality Index of 494, Monday was the second most polluted day ever. Additionally, BS III petrol and BS IV vehicles are banned as part of the Graded Response Action Plan's emergency measures.

Delhi Metro broke the record set on Aug 25, a day after Raksha Bandhan, at 77.49 lakh passenger journeys. "It reflects the growing faith shown by the passengers in Delhi Metro's reliability, punctuality and seamless travel covering most parts of the Delhi-NCR, which at present is facing severe air quality deterioration. To ensure that more people prefer to use the metro in this scenario, DMRC is already running 60 extra trips on weekdays, thereby offering more carrying capacity than usual," said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.

DMRC defines a passenger journey as the number of metro lines used by a passenger to complete his or her journey. However, ridership data includes total tickets sold and metro cards used by commuters to exit a station. Delhi Metro used to calculate passenger ridership until 2018, but it started reporting passenger journeys from 2019.

Of the total 78.67 lakh passenger journeys recorded, the highest was on Yellow Line at 20.9 lakh, followed by Blue Line at 20.8 lakh. Yellow and Blue lines are the busiest lines in the DMRC network.

Since Aug this year, DMRC has repeatedly breached its own passenger journey records several times. "It indicates that people prefer to opt for an environment-friendly system. The more people prefer metro over private vehicles, there is bound to be a reduction in vehicular emissions, leading to an improvement in the air quality of the city and its peripheries," said Dayal.

Additionally, DMRC has taken a host of measures in recent times that empower passengers to book their single/multiple journey tickets from multiple digital platforms, giving them the freedom to plan their journey anytime from anywhere without having to stand in queues at the station.

Tie-ups with other organisations like IRCTC, NCRTC, ITPO, etc., further empower people to not just travel by the metro but avail further interconnecting travel options with various offers or events being available with seamless ease. DMRC is one of the most environment-friendly transport options and the first metro in the world to be registered for carbon credits with the United Nations body for measures for environmental sustainability, said an official.