Metro to resume services with 50% seating capacity from July 16

KOLKATA: Kolkata Metro Railway services will be thrown open to the public with 50 per cent seating maintaining COVID-19 protocols from July 16.

"Kolkata Metro Railway will run 192 services (UP and DN) from Monday to Friday starting on July 16. These services will be available from 8.00 am to 9.00 pm between Dakshineswar and Kavi Subhash. 48 services will be run on East-West Metro corridor," said an official.

He reiterated that 104 Maintenance Special Services will be run only for essential staff on Saturdays. There will be no services on Sundays. "No tokens will be issued. Commuters will be able to travel in the Metro only by using their Smart Cards. Passengers will not be allowed to travel without a mask. One rake has over 600 passengers' seating capacity. Only 50 per cent of the seats will be filled up during the journey," pointed out the official. At present, Kolkata Metro Railway is running 104 (52 UP and 52 DN) Maintenance Special Services from Monday to Saturday. The Kolkata Metro Railway services were suspended after COVID19 restrictions were imposed in the state on May 16.

Earlier, during the pre COVID-19 pandemic era, passenger count used to be over 7 lakh on a daily basis.