Kolkata Metro Rail to run 3021 special service trains during Durga Puja

Kolkata, Sep 25 (PTI) The Metro Railway Kolkata on Thursday said that it will operate a total of 3021 special service trains across its four sections between September 27 and October 2 during the Durga Puja festival.

In comparison to last year, 651 more services will be run this time, a Metro spokesperson said.

He said for the first time, such services will be operated in the Purple (Joka-Majerhat) and Yellow (Kavi Subhas-Beliaghata) and Esplanade to Salt Lake Sector V section (Green Lines).

"Commuters will be able to reach almost all corners of the city with the help of Metro. The services will have a total carrying capacity of 90.63 lakhs passengers in six days of Durga Puja. The capacity offered this year is more than 120 per cent compared to last year's actual passenger count of 41.15 lakh," he said.

Last year, special Metro services during Puja were available in the truncated stretch of Howrah Maidan to Esplanade.

"As the entire West Bengal is ready for the Durga Puja and people are busy shopping as well as pandal hopping, passenger count in Metro Railway has been steadily increasing. More than 8.36 lakh commuters travelled in Metro on September 24, 'Dwitiya', which was higher than last year's Dwitiya's passenger count of 7.93 lakh," the spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, more than 6.10 lakh passengers travelled on the Blue Line between Dakshineswar and Sahid Khudiram, while the figure is 2.05 lakh for Green Line.

On the very first day of the extension of validity period of Smart Card from one year to 10 years, commuters purchased it to avail of additional benefits being offered from September 25. Altogether 2839 Smart Cards were sold till 5 pm on Thursday in comparison to 1739 Smart Cards sold the day before till 5 pm. PTI SUS NN