Office goers, flyers & first-time riders board inaugural Yellow Line service

Kolkata: Office-goers rushing to work, joyriders out for a first ride and air travellers with luggage in tow all boarded the inaugural commercial services of the Noapara–Jai Hind Bimanbandar stretch of Kolkata Metro’s Yellow Line on Monday. Many used the interchange with the Blue Line at Noapara to connect with other parts of the city.

The new corridor provides Kolkata’s first direct Metro link to Kolkata airport. Ashraf PC, from Kerala, who had travelled from Birbhum and was catching a flight home, said: “I boarded from Sealdah and reached the airport quickly. The journey was smooth and saved time.” Swapnan Sinha, who arrived from Bengaluru and was heading to Diamond Harbour, used the Yellow Line to reach Sealdah for his onward train. Several long-distance travellers also benefited, as the Metro connected to Sealdah and Howrah stations through the Green and Blue Lines. A mother-son duo, Shrabani and Archisman Daw, arrived at Howrah from Haridwar and changed lines twice—first at Esplanade to the Blue Line, then at Noapara to the Yellow Line—before alighting at Jessore Road and continuing to Rajarhat. “It saved both time and money. A cab from Howrah to Narayanpur would have cost at least Rs 500,” said Shrabani. Tourists, too, were among the early riders. Italian visitors Giulia Ferruggia and Thomas Maggiore, on a week-long stay in Kolkata after touring Ladakh, Jaipur, Delhi, Agra and Amritsar, boarded the Yellow Line from the airport and switched at Noapara for Park Street. “The Metro is very clean and spacious. We thought the line would be yellow in colour but found the train purple, which confused us at first,” Ferruggia said.

Children and families also joined the rush. Class V student Tanishka Das from the airport area woke up at 4.30 am to try to become the first ticketed passenger. She narrowly missed the honour, coming in second, but still rode the first train from Jai Hind Bimanbandar station with her grandfather Dilip Das. “I came just to ride the first train,” she said.

Chirashree Dutta and Modalasha Ghosh both used the Yellow Line for their office journeys to Jatin Das Park. The first passenger from Jai Hind Bimanbandar station was New Alipore resident Jayprakash Bagaria, who had dropped off his son at the airport. “My counter opened first, so my ticket became the first,” he said.

The opening day was not without glitches. At Noapara, trains from both platforms 2 and 3 were announced as bound for Sahid Khudiram, creating confusion.

The train from Jai Hind Bimanbandar stopped at platform 3, leading many passengers to alight before an announcement clarified its destination. Some had to re-board hurriedly, and indicator boards occasionally displayed incorrect next-station names. Metro staff described the problems as first-day teething issues.

Meanwhile, revenue services on the extended Orange Line between Kavi Subhash and Beleghata also began on Monday.