Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway has decided to turn the Bengal Chemical Metro Station on the Green Line (Salt Lake Sector V-Sealdah stretch) into a ‘no booking counter station’ starting from Thursday, December 19, bringing the number of such stations from six to seven.
This means no booking counters will remain open for issuing tokens, new smart cards, or recharging smart cards and no booking staff will be present. According to Metro Railway authorities, this decision has been taken due to the very low passenger count at the station.
From Thursday, passengers travelling through Bengal Chemical Metro Station will need to purchase tokens, smart cards and paper QR code-based tickets from Automatic Smart Card Recharge Machines (ASCRM) or by using the Metro Ride Kolkata App with their smartphones. They can also recharge their smart cards using the ASCRMs.
ASCRMs have already been installed at the station and passengers can also opt for UPI payment-based ticketing systems on these machines.
Previously, the Metro Railway had implemented ‘no booking counter station’ at six stations: Thakurpukur, Sakherbazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar and Taratala Metro stations on the Purple Line (Joka-Majherhat) and Kavi Sukanta station on the Orange Line (Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay), due to the low number of passengers using these stations.