Kolkata Metro on Friday conducted a trial run of extended services on its North-South corridor, plying the last trains from New Garia and Dum Dum stations at 11 pm. At present, the last trains from New Garia and Dum Dum depart at 9.40 pm and those to and from Dakshineswar at 9.30pm and 9.28pm.
“For now, we will run the last trains at 11pm every day from Monday to Friday. If successful, the services will be made permanent except on Saturdays and Sundays,” Metro Railway CPRO Kausik Mitra said. A ticket counter will be opened at every 23 stations between Kavi Subhas and Dum Dum to issue tokens, smart cards and other tickets. The last three North-South stations— Noapara, Baranagar and Dakshineswar —have been left out of the experiment. Metro operates 172 services to and from Dakshineswar and 288 services on the Dum Dum-New Garia section.
The move comes days after the Calcutta High Court directed Metro Railway, which runs and owns the city’s mass rapid transit network, to consider extending its operations by 45 minutes. On May 2, the HC asked the carrier to heed a a PIL, seeking a later schedule for the last train.
In the PIL, the petitioner’s lawyer stated the last train leaves Dum Dum and New Garia at 9.40pm, while in almost all other cities in the country, the last metro leaves the originating station around 11 pm. The HC bench had asked metro to reply in four weeks. “I am thrilled that metro has considered the request from all of us who campaigned for it. It feels great to be a part of a change that will benefit scores of Kolkata commuters,” said Ajay Mittal, who started an online petition on the extension of Metro timings last year.
While commuters welcomed the move, many pointed out the authorities should operate at least three services in between. “Metro has proposed a train at 11 pm after the one at 9.40 pm. That means a gap of one hour and 20 minutes. Metro can operate trains at 20-30-minute interval instead,” said a commuter.
Metro Railway used to run 300 services on the N-S corridor but in 2019, it announced its fleet strength and staff shortage allowed it to operate 284 services only. Post Covid, four services were added. On Wednesday, it announced it hoped to overcome its motorman shortage that prevented it from extending services till late hours once the communication-based train control system was implemented in the next five years. Under the driver-less signalling system, motormen will only be required to press a button to close doors and start the train.
