Fearing rush, book fair asks Metro to set up extra ticket counter
Times of India | 11 January 2026
Kolkata: With only 11 days to go for the International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) to start at Salt Lake Central Park fairground, preparations are going in full swing to set up the book stalls and spruce up the fairground infrastructure. The 49th edition of IKBF, organised by the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, is scheduled to be inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Jan 22 and will continue till Feb 3.
The guild has requested the metro authorities to set up a booth at gate no. 1 of the fairground close to Central Park metro station so that visitors could buy tickets and directly take the Green Line metro from Central Park station to avoid the rush at the ticket counters inside the station.
"Metro will play a huge role as we are expecting more visitors to throng the book fair this time. We have requested the metro authorities to consider the proposal as it would help the visitors coming via the Green Line to a great extent," said a guild official.
Until last year, starting from Sector V, the Green Line metro route used to terminate at Phoolbagan.
With about 1,000 stalls, more holidays falling within the duration of the fair, and Green Line metro connectivity from Sector V to Howrah, the book fair is expected to draw more crowds and record higher footfall this time. Guild officials said that last year, about 27 lakh book lovers visited the book fair and book sales amounted to around Rs 23 crore.
The fairground is being spruced up with repairs to the internal roads and the installation of high-mast lights at two gates for better illumination. The toilet blocks are also being refurbished. The KMDA is working on improving the fairground infrastructure as work on setting up stalls was going in full swing.