Over 13,000 take under-river E-W Metro’s first Sunday ride
Times of India | 2 September 2024
Kolkata: East-West Metro on Sunday started its all-seven-day run in the under-river stretch and passengers lapped it up like a much-craved for pre-Puja gift. “Till 8pm, around 13,940 commuters availed the Sunday services,” said Kausik Mitra, CPRO, Metro Railway.
The first train from the Howrah Maidan terminal chugged out at 2.15pm and reached Esplanade in eight minutes flat with 650 people on board.Services went on till 9.45pm, with 31 trains running in each direction.
“As I got off my train from Asansol, my ears caught the repeated announcements at Howrah railway station that East-West Metro was starting its Sunday services from today. I quickly walked to the Metro station and boarded the waiting trains. All I have to do now is cross over to Esplanade for the North-South line to zip to my Bansdroni home,” said Subhasis Saha, a doctor who works in the districts during the weekend.
The Howrah Maidan line links Esplanade via the Hooghly river. Not only does it connect Howrah with its twin, Kolkata, one of the four underground stations is embedded in Howrah railway station and another has an interface with the New Garia-Dakshineswar or the North-South line at Esplanade.
Among the first Sunday passengers was Sayantan Sikdar, who was with his family to have a maiden experience of India’s first under-river Metro. “Sunday is the only day when I am free. I decided to make the best use of it by taking my family out for this unique ride,” the New Town resident smiled.
Metro Railway GM P Uday Kumar Reddy said around 7lakh people are expected to travel daily when the entire East-West Metro becomes operational from Sector V to Howrah Maidan. “It gives us enormous satisfaction when we are able to meet our commuters’ needs,” the CPRO said.
East-West Metro now runs along two disjointed sections – the 4.8km from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade via the river Hooghly and the 9.4km from Sector V to Sealdah.
The 2.5km Esplanade-Sealdah section is still incomplete because it passes through the subsidence-prone Bowbazar in central Kolkata. Officials reiterated on Sunday that the Sector V-Sealdah or Green line 1 will continue to operate six days a week and Sunday services were not being introduced in that section.
“The entire 16.6km East-West Metro is due to be operational in March 2025 . The entire corridor will then function seven days a week,” an official said. The Sector V-Sealdah stretch was opened in phases and has been ferrying around 48,000 passengers every day. The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch has around 47,000 daily ridership.