An extension of timing and more trains are likely by next week, Metro Railway officials said on Wednesday, 10 days into the resumption of commercial services.

The last trains leave the terminal stations at 7pm now. Fifty-five pairs of trains run in each direction, taking the total number of daily trains to 110.

“The plan is to increase three pairs of trains in each direction. The number of trains daily will then be 116. The last trains will leave the terminal stations at 7.30pm,” an official said.

More and more people are stepping out for work every day and traffic snarls are back on city roads. The roads, which used to be deserted in late evenings a month ago, are busy in the night now.

The number of Metro passengers was around 20,000 — way below the 100,000 cap that Metro officials geared up for in the run-up to the resumption of commercial services — on September 14, the first day when services resumed.

The number of e-passes booked was more than 50,000. An e-pass is mandatory to enter the station and a smart card to board a train.

The number of passengers has been on the rise and is expected to cross 50,000 by next week, the Metro official said.

The gap between the number of passes booked and the actual trips made has been narrowing consistently.

On Tuesday, around 70,000 passes had been booked. The passenger count was little over 46,500.

“That means more than 65 per cent of the bookings translated into trips. On Day 1, less than 50 per cent of the bookings had converted into trips,” on official of the agency that has developed the e-pass technology said.

“The number of passengers is increasing every day. We are mulling an increase in the number of trains and an extension of the timings,” Indrani Banerjee, the Metro spokesperson, said on Wednesday.