Kolkata Metro started operating again on Monday morning after the services were stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic on March 23. However, the coaches were mostly empty in the first few hours.
“It was an exciting experience though the new ticket purchasing system is something people have to get used to,” said Uttam Majumdar, an executive with a private company who boarded the Metro at Tollygunge.
On Sunday, Metro operated only for NEET examinees and their parents. The trains carried only 1,648 people till 8 pm.
Under the new reservation system, Metro passengers have to book e-passes through an app before they take a ride. This has been done to restrict the number of passengers boarding a train. The QR codes of the e-passes are being scanned at the stations. Tickets are being sold in the form of smart cards.
Passengers have to mention the time of journey, name of the stations and smart card number while booking on the app. To ensure social distancing, only marked seats are being used in the trains.
The East West Metro also started its limited overhead service at Rajarhat in the eastern fringes of Kolkata but there were very few passengers.
Earlier, speaking to reporters on Sunday, Kolkata Metro General Manager Manoj Joshi had said that Metro will run 110 services on the Noapara-Kavi Subhash line every day, except Sundays when operations will remain shut for sanitisation of rakes and stations.
“Between Noapara and Kavi Subhash, 55 trains will run in each direction starting from 8 am. The last train will leave the terminal stations on both ends at 7 pm,” he said.
Operations will also recommence on the East-West line from September 14 between Sector V and Salt Lake Stadium stations with 36 services in each direction.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kolkata-metro-resumes-service-after-175-days/story-FlIfVZKfZAn6pDg3sFFc2L.html
