9.28 lakh commuters use Metro on Panchami

Kolkata: Kolkata Metro Railway has created history by carrying 9.28 lakh commuters on Panchami, Thursday, the highest since its inception in 1984.

"This is an all-time record as more and more commuters have opted for Metro over other modes of transport for visiting different pandals in Kolkata smoothly avoiding all traffic snarls," read a press release of Kolkata Metro Railway.

However, Kolkata Metro's previous record footfall was registered on October 15 last year. It carried 9.07 lakh commuters on Mahasasthi day last year. It might be mentioned that on September 25, 2017, about 8.78 lakh passengers travelled in Metro, which has been the third highest number of passengers travelling in a day.

In a bid to offer better services to the commuters, Kolkata Metro Railway has been running additional pre-Puja services on Saturdays and Sundays. At present, they are running 284 services on Saturdays instead of the normal 236 services from August 31 (48 additional services).

Metro will run 288 services on Chaturthi, Panchami and Shasthi. 244 services will be run on Saptami (October 5), Ashtami (October 6) and Nabami (October 7). During this period, Kolkata Metro services will be available from 1 pm to 4 am. On Dashami (October 8), 132 services will be run from 1 pm to 10 pm.

This apart, Kolkata Metro Railway opened a new surface gate at Noapara Metro Station on Wednesday. The decision comes after the Talla Bridge was closed for heavy vehicles (buses). This additional gate will be of great benefit to metro commuters.