Kolkata: Kolkata Metro Railway reintroduced the same-day return ticket facility after a 15-year hiatus, with the service resuming on an experimental basis from Friday across all corridors.
SS Kannan, CPRO, Metro Railway, said on Saturday, "Since Friday, we have resumed the return ticket facility on an experimental basis, to ease congestion at the booking counters. This is being done for the convenience of the commuters."
The return ticket facility was introduced by Metro Railway general manager Subhransu Sekhar Mishra on Friday. The return tickets are being issued as paper QR code tickets, but the plastic tokens continue to be single-use ones. The facility was suspended following the discontinuation of the old paper magnetic strip ticket system in 2011.
"Passengers availing this facility will not have to purchase tickets from booking counters once again when they are trying to embark on the return journey. This will help save time and enhance mobility across corridors," the CPRO said.
The return journey ride will have to be completed on the date written on the ticket. "Passengers are requested to preserve their tickets (QR-coded) for their return journey and not lose them. Unless they swipe it to get through the automatic fare collection gates, they won't be allowed to take the second journey, even if they have paid for the ticket," Kannan said.
For a long time, even as Metro Railway has been campaigning hard to have passengers buy multi-ride smartcards or pay online to avoid queuing up at the booking counters, especially during rush hours, passengers have been demanding the return of the same-day return tickets.
"Not everyone is tech savvy. Nor are all passengers ready to spend the higher costs for smartcards. But most single-day users are sure of taking a return journey. It's good that Metro Railway has finally thought of people like us. I can spare myself the hassle of waiting at the booking counters at the end of the day," said Anjali Poddar, a resident of Baranagar and caregiver for a patient at Salt Lake.