Kolkata Metro to impose Rs 10 surcharge for spl night service

Kolkata: Starting December 10, commuters using the special night Metro service on the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash) will need to spend more for their journey, as the Kolkata Metro Railway has announced plans to add a Rs 10 surcharge to every ticket of the special service, irrespective of the distance travelled by the commuter.

The special night Metro services operate from Kavi Subhash (New Garia) and Dum Dum stations at 10:40 pm on weekdays (Monday-Friday). According to the official statement issued by the Metro Railway on Monday, the decision to impose the surcharge was made in light of the poor occupancy of these services. This special night service was introduced on May 24 following a directive from the Calcutta High Court, which asked the Metro Railway to extend its operations by another 45 minutes from the usual 9:40 pm. Initially, these services operated at 11:00 pm on weekdays. However, the timings were adjusted by 20 minutes on June 24,

resulting in the current 10:40 pm schedule. The timing adjustment was also due to low passenger numbers. At that time, Metro Railway reported that only about 300 people travelled on each of the special 11:00 pm trains, resulting in daily earnings of Rs 6,000. Meanwhile, the operational costs for these services were around Rs 2.7 lakh, with an additional Rs 50,000 for related expenses.

“Though the number has slightly increased, it’s still very low,” said an official of the Metro Railway. Additionally, Metro authorities have decided to conduct massive ticket-checking drives after detecting unauthorised travel by some commuters. In November, the Metro Railway ticket-checking squad fined 165 passengers for offenses such as travelling without a ticket or with a short-

distance ticket.