Metro to run 80 services on consecutive Sundays

Kolkata: Metro Railway will run 80 services on consecutive Sundays — February 5 and February 12 respectively — from Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector-V, which is part of the East-West Metro corridor for the convenience of commuters visiting the 46th International Book Fair.

The mega event will take place from January 30 to February 12 at the Boimela Prangan. Metro officials are expecting a crowd during the fair days and thus have decided to extend services on Sundays, which is a deviation from its normal schedule.

“From Monday to Saturday, we are seeing a footfall of around 40,000 every day. Most of this includes commuters working at offices in Sector V. Since offices are closed on Sundays, we do not operate to cut costs. But if we see crowding on the mentioned Sundays when the Metro will operate, we can take a decision on the Sunday operations,” an official in the know-how of things said.

Apart from this, the Metro Railway has made elaborate arrangements to cater to the crowd of commuters during the book fair days. They will run 120 services (60 East-bound and 60 West-bound) from Monday to Saturday, i.e. January 31 to February 12, instead of 106 services, which are usual on this route.

The first service will start from 6:50 am instead of 6:55 am from Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector-V, but the timings for Salt Lake Sector-V to Sealdah will remain unchanged, which is 7 am. The timing of the last service will also remain the same — 9:35 pm from Sealdah and 9:40 pm from Salt Lake Sector-V. Meanwhile, on Sundays, 80 Metro services (40 East-bound and 40 West-bound) will be available from 12:50 pm to 10 pm.