Surcharge implementation on spl night Metro tickets deferred

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway has deferred the implementation of the proposed surcharge on special night Metro services tickets on the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash), which was scheduled to begin on December 10.

The special night services, which operate on weekdays, depart from Kavi Subhash (New Garia) and Dum Dum at 10:40 pm. Recently, the Kolkata Metro Railway had announced the decision to impose a Rs 10 surcharge on all tickets for the special night services, regardless of the distance travelled. This decision was taken in response to the low occupancy rates of these services.

However, the implementation was deferred by the authorities at the last moment, citing technical reasons. “The decision to levy a surcharge has been deferred for some technical reason. The date of initiation of this surcharge will be intimated later,” said a spokesperson of the Metro Railway.

The special night services were first introduced on May 24 following a directive from the Calcutta High Court, which asked the Metro Railway to extend its operating hours by 45 minutes beyond the usual 9:40 pm cutoff. Initially, the special services operated at 11 pm on weekdays, but the schedule was later adjusted by 20 minutes on June 24, setting the current 10:40 pm timing.