No e-passes needed for Metro rides from Jan 18

Kolkata: The Metro Railway authority has decided to withdraw the e-pass system from January 18.

Passengers, who have smart cards, can board metro without an e-pass. But, regular journey tokens for one time travel will not be issued.

Metro railway authority had introduced the e-passes to book time slots for travelling post lockdown situations.

Initially it was made mandatory for all the passengers. But, later the senior citizens were allowed to travel between 11:30 am and 4:30 pm, without e-passes.

From November 20, children below 15 years of age and women were allowed to travel in the metro without e-pass.

This apart, metro authority has decided to extend the number of services from January 18 between Monday and Friday. According to metro authority, 12 more services will be added taking the total number to 240.

The first metro will start at 7 am from Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash. The first metro from Noapara will start from 7:09 am.

The last metro from Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash will leave the stations at 9:30 pm and from Noapara at 9:25 pm. Services on the Saturdays and Sundays will

remain unchanged.