Network Glitches at Chennai Metro Stations Force Staff to Issue Handwritten Slips

Technical glitches and network outages disrupted Chennai Metro's online and paper QR ticketing systems on Friday, forcing station staff to issue manual, handwritten slips to commuters. The disruptions, which occurred during peak rush hours on Friday morning and night, caused significant overcrowding at several stations, including the Chennai International Airport station.

According to Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) officials, the Friday morning disruption was caused by a UPS failure. The outage on Friday night, as well as similar recurring instances over the past 15 days, was attributed to network connectivity issues.

A CMRL official confirmed that the technical team had diagnosed the issue, stating, "We have already identified the problem. We will ensure this does not happen again."

While a majority of regular commuters use National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC), nearly 20% of Chennai Metro travellers still purchase paper QR tickets at stations. Sources within CMRL stated that issuing these paper tickets had become highly challenging for staff over the past two weeks due to recurring network outages.

During peak rush hours, the lack of digital ticketing forced staff to distribute handwritten paper slips to keep commuters moving. However, sources warned that this manual workaround prevents the transit system from maintaining an accurate passenger count and creates a risk of revenue leakage.

The breakdown led to severe crowding at major transit points. Vinoba Bhoopathy, a frequent commuter, reported that the Chennai International Airport station was packed with air passengers and regular commuters on Friday night. Bhoopathy had to wait for nearly 20 minutes before the network was restored and a standard QR ticket could be issued.

Commuters also took to social media to flag the downtime. A commuter named Gunasekar posted online that neither the official app nor the physical ticket counters were functioning, leaving only NCMC cards and handwritten tickets as viable options for passengers.