Sealdah-Sector-V Metro line: Footfall crosses 50K-mark

kolkata: The East-West Metro corridor, i.e. Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector-V, witnessed a record footfall of 51,263 on Saturday. It is for the first time that the footfall for the East-West metro line crossed the 50,000 mark.

“Since its inception, Green Line has been one of the preferred modes of transport in Kolkata. Most commuters coming from the suburbs have been availing the Metro from Sealdah to reach their destinations in Salt Lake. As a result, footfalls in this line have been increasing steadily,” a metro official stated.

The increase in commuters on the Metro line may also be because of the 46th International Kolkata Book Fair, which is taking place at Boimela Prangan in Salt Lake.

The Metro officials had earlier predicted the rush in this line during the book fair. Therefore, 120 additional services on weekdays (Monday to Saturday) and special services on Sunday, which are usually closed, were announced by the Kolkata Metro. Metro Railway ran 80 services on February 5 (Sunday) and will be running the same number of services on February 12 (Sunday) as well.

“From Monday to Saturday, we are seeing a footfall of around 40,000 every day. Most of which include commuters working at offices in Sector-V. Since offices are closed on Sunday, we do not operate to cut costs,” the official said.

“But if we see crowding on the mentioned Sundays then the Metro may operate,” the official added.