Kolkata: From Chaturthi to Dashami, Metro Railway sold 20,501 smart cards in the Blue line which connects Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash as passengers chose smart cards over standing in queues for token purchases.
According to the data released by Metro Railway, 3555 smart cards were sold on Chaturthi, 4307 on Panchami, 4243 were sold on Sasthi, 4183 on Saptami, 2379 on Ashtami, 1448 on Navami and 386 on Dashami. “From Chaturthi to Dashami, Metro commuters have purchased new 20,501 smart cards which are 1793 (or 9 per cent) more than the previous year’s Durga Puja,” Metro officials stated. A total of 41.65 lakh passengers travelled in North-South, East-West and Purple Metro corridors. In six days, Metro earned Rs 6.12 crore from token and smart cards of which, the majority was earned from North-South Metro line which amounted to Rs 5.79 crore and the remaining which was Rs 32.86 lakh was earned from East-West and Rs 26,460 from Purple line.
Last year, Metro Railway earned a total revenue of Rs 6,06,94,056 during Durga Puja. They had earned a total revenue of Rs 5,79,90,716 for the North-South Metro corridor and Rs 27,03,340 for the East-West Metro corridor.
Meanwhile, Metro Railway witnessed an increase of 34.22 per cent in its non-fare revenue (NFR) earnings with a total of Rs 19.57 crore earning from April 2023 to September 2023. In 2022-23 Metro earned Rs 14.58 crore as NFR during the same period i.e. April 2022 to September 2022.
According to officials, the three operational Metro corridors, including North-South, East-West and Purple Line which connects Joka-Taratala are providing ample opportunities for the business entities for marketing their products through branding.