No e-passes needed for women, children in Metro: Official

Kolkata: Bringing relief to the commuters, Kolkata Metro Railway has decided to allow female passengers and children below 15 years of age to travel without e-passes from

Friday.

"From November 20, women commuters and children below the age of 15 years can travel by the Metro without availing e-passes between 11 am and 5 pm," said Indrani Banerjee, chief public relations officer of Kolkata Metro Railway.

She reiterated that they can travel using their smart cards and children should carry an identity card as age proof.

For children, school identity cards will also hold

valid.

Last week, the Kolkata Metro Railway started running 38 additional services in the North-South corridor. The initiative of increasing the Metro service has been taken up considering that the flow of passengers

would increase following the resumption of suburban train services after seven months.

At present, the Kolkata Metro Railway is

running 190 services (95 UP + 95 DN) instead of 152 services on the North South

Corridor from 08.00 am to 10.00 pm.

"We are running additional services on weekdays i.e. from Monday to Saturday," said an official. On November 18, passenger count on the North- South corridor and East West corridor was 1, 00, 589 and 502 respectively. On November 17, passenger count on the North- South corridor and East West corridor was 91, 286 and 393 respectively.