From Hwh Maidan to Ruby, longest unbroken Metro ride may cost 50
Times of India | 20 February 2024
KOLKATA: Commuters will be able to zip all the way from Howrah Maidan to the middle of EM Bypass, via the Hooghly, for just Rs 50. That's the crux of the integrated fare structure proposed by Metro Railway for the truncated East-West Metro, which has an interface with the North-South line at Esplanade in central Kolkata. The North-South corridor, in turn, meets the New Garia-Airport Metro at New Garia.
When the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of the E-W Metro and the New-Garia stretch of the Kavi Subhas-Airport line are thrown open, networking two or three Metro lines and travelling across corridors with a single token will be a first in Kolkata. The basic fare for the new East-West Metro line will be Rs 5 and the highest (to Esplanade) will be Rs 10. The ready-to-launch 4.8km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section will be India's first under-river Metro. It will effectively be the fastest commute option from Howrah in the west to the Ruby crossing on EM Bypass, via the North-South Metro, which is India's oldest Metro line.
The fare is Rs 30 from East-West Metro's terminal Howrah Maidan station to Dakshineswar, which is the northern terminus of the North-South line, Baranagar and Noapara, and also to New Garia. "From here, one can board the New Garia-Airport (Orange) line and travel 5.4km to the Ruby crossing (Hemanta Mukhopadhyay station)," an official told TOI on Monday.
The fare will be Rs 25 if one travels from Howrah Maidan to Dum Dum, Belgachhia and Shymabazar. It's Rs 25 as well from Howrah Maidan to Kalighat, Rabindra Sarovar, Tollygunge and Netaji (Kudghat) stations. The slab increases to Rs 40, if one travels from Howrah Maidan to Joytirindra Nandi (Mukundapur) and Kavi Sukanta (Kalikapur) stations.
The lowest integrated fare will be for those travelling from Maidan, Park Street, Chandni Chowk and Central stations to Howrah Maidan - a meagre Rs 15. The slab is Rs 30 to and from Howrah Maidan and the Masterda Surya Sen (Bansdroni)-Kavi Subhas (New Garia) section.
The 16km East-West Metro, also called the Green line, now runs 9.2km from Sector V to Sealdah. It will become 13km when the Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section is commissioned. But the corridor will consist of two disjointed sections because of the incomplete subsidence-ridden 2.5km Sealdah-Esplanade section in the middle.
There will be two interchanging stations when the three Metro lines are thrown open for revenue operations: Esplanade and New Garia. Metro Railway, which is in charge of the city's rapid transit network, will be offering a single token for those wishing to traverse across the three lines. Automatic fare control (AFC) gates catering to all three lines are being installed.
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