Kolkata: Metro resumes services after over 5 months
by Prema RajaramA day after metro services in Kolkata resumed for NEET candidates on Sunday, now services have opened for all commuters.
After being shut for more than five months due to the nationwide lockdown in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the oldest Metro route in India restarted it’s commercial operations. The first Up Metro train is starting at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station.
Passengers were seen maintaining social distancing norms as directed by Metro Railway authorities which has Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) in place. Apart from the existing route that connected the north to south, the newly constructed east-west route also started its operations.
Time Table
The old route that connects north and south of Kolkata, namely the Noapara-Kavi Subhash line, will run 110 trips daily except on Sundays. Sundays would be reserved for sanitisation of rakes and metro stations.
Services that have resumed from 14th September can be availed between 8:00 am and 7:00 pm only. The number of trains that will run between the old route, Noapara and Kavi Subhash is 55 in each direction starting from 8:00 am.
Online Reservations
As for passengers buying tickets for the metro ride, a new reservation system has been set up by the authorities to maintain the social distancing in the trains.
Metro passengers have to book e-passes through an app before they take a ride. The e-passes will generate QR codes which are being scanned at the stations to allow passengers to go through to tale the train. The move has been done to restrict or control the number of passengers boarding a train.
The Kolkata Metro is the first planned and operational rapid transit system in India. It was initially planned in the 1920s, but construction started in 1970s. The first elevated stretch, from Bhawanipore to Esplanade opened in 1984.
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