Kolkata: Weekend services would be introduced to the Noapara-airport section of the Yellow Line Metro from this Saturday, Metro Railway said on Wednesday.
PM Narendra Modi flagged off three new Metro lines on Aug 22.
That day, the city got its first airport-metro connectivity along the 6.7 km Noapara-airport section. Two days later, on Monday (Aug 25), the airport metro, from Noapara to Jai Hind Metro or airport station, embedded in the NSCB airport, started its first run.
A total of 44 services—22 in each direction—will run on Saturdays and 40 services—20 in each direction—will run on Sundays. Trains will be available from 7.35 am to 8.32 pm on Saturdays and from 8.35 am to 8.22 pm on Sundays.
On the weekend, the gap between two services will be 35 minutes. "The weekend services will help passengers travel to and from the airport to the city's southern fringes (for Rs 45), availing the Noapara interchange.
Passengers to and from the airport can also use the Green Line (Sector V-Howrah Maidan), and travel to Howrah or Sealdah stations for Rs 50 from the Yellow Line," an official said.
He indicated that the current 8am-8pm operation hours of Yellow Line might also be tweaked for the festival season to accommodate the stream of pandal-hoppers.
It is, however, not finalized if the number of services will be increased from the current 120. "The festival schedule is being prepared with a lot of diligence. The two main challenges are passengers crossing over from other lines and the overcrowding of stations.
We wish passengers would learn not to board an already overcrowded train and wait for the next one. More people should use the Aamar Kolkata Metro app to buy tickets as passengers will get a 5% discount and it will also reduce queues at stations.
Four persons can buy tickets at a time on the app," the official said.
When the Yellow Line was launched, commuters had hailed the city's first airport connectivity. But Metro Railway, based on surveys, did not anticipate much footfall. As a result, the authorities had suspended weekend services on Yellow Line, like Orange Line, which runs a truncated 10 km on EM Bypass, and the 8-km Joka-Majerhat Purple Line.
The Yellow Line, with two stations Dum Dum Cantonment and Jessore Road, between the terminal Noapara and the Jai Hind stations, has been carrying around 7,000 passengers every day.