Book fair day 2 footfall clocks 3.5L as metro kiosk eases rush, aides commute
Times of India | 25 January 2026
Kolkata: The second day of the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) continued to draw more book lovers from all across the city, with around 3.5 lakh footfall recorded at the fair on Saturday, said an official of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild.
With back-to-back holidays on Sunday and the Republic Day on Monday, the guild is expecting a record-breaking first 4 days of the fair. "The first two days saw about six lakh footfall. We are expecting more footfall in the next two days," guild officials. As per estimates, around 2.5 lakh visited book fair on Friday, the first full day of the fair.
For the first time, a metro ticket-buying kiosk has been set up inside the fairground between gates and 2 as many visitors are availing the facility to avoid the rush at the ticket counter inside Karunamoyee or Central Park metro station. Visitors can buy tickets by paying cash or online by scanning the UPI code. An official said that about 250 tickets were sold on the first day on Friday.
"This is a very convenient facility set up by the authorities to avoid the rush at the ticket counters inside the metro station," said Shikha Banerjee who came from Rashbehari Avenue.
The Green Line linking Howrah to Sector V is witnessing a surge in passengers to and from the book fair. With the fairground having direct metro connectivity to Howrah via Esplanade, thousands of visitors who earlier used to come to the fair through extended routes are directly getting down at either Karunamoyee or Central Park station and entering the fairground.