Elevator logjam worry for flyerstaking metro ride to Kol airport
Times of India | 22 August 2025
Kolkata: Passengers who take the metro to the airport to then board a flight will have to queue up for elevator before exit gate No. 1A at the arrival level to move to the departure level before entering the terminal. The elevator is situated around 40 m from the point where commuters exit the Jai Hind airport metro station. There will be no such issue for flyers exiting the airport to board the metro.
While the queue before the arrival level elevator will be manageable if the flyer count that arrives by metro is few, officials admit concern about a logjam if a large number of passengers flying out of airport start using metro. The elevator has a capacity of 17 people and a maximum weight limit of 1,564 kg. An official said there are plans to create a separate entrance for flyers arriving by metro to travel to departure level after entering terminal through a new gate at the start of the terminal. A new express security check portal with baggage X-ray machines is also proposed. Putting this infrastructure in place will be time-consuming and require regulatory clearances. Airport officials are also looking at an alternative: allowing metro passengers to use two escalators and an elevator that exist in arrival lobby. An entrance has to be created between exit gates 3C and 4A to access them, which will take passengers up to departure lobby near gate 3C. "Passage from the gate to the escalator has to be cordoned off with glass panels to segregate departing passengers from those that arrive," he said.
The new entrance will require deployment of additional CISF personnel for access control. DigiYatra gates may be installed later.
An airport official said creating a two-level escalator with a landing in between outside the northern end of terminal building and close to entrance and exit to the tunnel leading to airport station would have been more convenient. A Metro official said, "Earlier there was a proposal to install an escalator for airport's departure access. It was later shelved.