1st day of ops: Sealdah Metro Stn sees about 18K footfall till 5 PM

KOLKATA: Commuters were welcomed with roses on the first day of commencement of commercial services at Sealdah Metro station. The newly commissioned station witnessed footfall of about 18,000 commuters till 5 PM, as reported.

There was great enthusiasm among passengers to avail the first metro from Sealdah to Sector V on Thursday. As per sources, some commuters reached the station during the wee hours on Thursday.

PK Chatterjee, a school teacher, was the first passenger to buy ticket from Sealdah to Sector V. The first train left Sealdah at 6.55 am. Chatterjee, a resident of Belghoria, reached Sealdah station at 1.30am on Thursday. He was the first person to buy ticket when the counter opened at 6.25 am.

First 50 passengers were given roses by the metro railway authorities. The passengers will take 20 minutes to travel 9 km from Sector V to Sealdah. The fare has been fixed at Rs 20. Earlier, hundreds of people from the districts, who work in Sector V, had to get down at Sealdah and then they took buses which took more than 40 minutes to reach their place of work.

There will be 100 trains—50 east bound and 50 west bound trains. The last train will leave Sealdah at 9.35 pm while the last train from Sector V will leave at 9.40 pm. This schedule will be followed from Monday to Friday.