Day 1: 1,648 take ride on Kolkata Metro’s spl service

“Till 7.58 pm, the passenger count was 1,648 and Rs 68,660 were the earnings,” said Metro Chief Public Relations Officer Indrani Banerjee. The highest footfall, 300 passengers, was at Dum Dum station.

Kolkata Metro resumed services from Sunday as it operated 74 special trains for NEET examinees and their guardians. According to authorities, 1,648 passengers took the trains. Services will be thrown open to the public on Monday.

“Till 7.58 pm, the passenger count was 1,648 and Rs 68,660 were the earnings,” said Metro Chief Public Relations Officer Indrani Banerjee. The highest footfall, 300 passengers, was at Dum Dum station.

All measures for maintaining social distancing were followed, with only those with a valid admit card being allowed to enter stations. There were long queues outside the stations, which were manned by the city police. The police personnel allowed passengers to line up outside the station only after checking their body temperatures using thermal scanners. Examinees and their parents were given paper card tickets instead of the usual tokens. Passengers had to maintain a queue while boarding and deboarding trains.

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“I would like to appreciate the efforts taken by Kolkata Police and Metro authorities to ensure social distancing today inside the metro station. It looked so smooth. I am travelling to Noapara. My examination centre is in Khalao on BT Road. I thought I really have to spend a lot of money to appear for the exam but due to the resumption of Metro services it was so easy,” said Soumitra Pradhan, a NEET aspirant.

In trains, passengers were not allowed to occupy seats marked ‘X’. Many stood apart to maintain a safe distance from others. The Railway Protection Force, with close coordination with the state police, enforced the rules.

Metro service started from the Noapara and the Kavi Subhash stations at 10 am, following all norms, and continued till 6 pm. Trains were operated at 15-minute intervals.