‘Kolkata Metro’s Anti-Overriding Drive nabs around 40 offenders each day’

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway authorities have launched a Special Anti-Overriding Drive on the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch of the Green Line to tackle the issue of joyriding without valid tickets. This involves commuters intentionally travelling in the opposite direction from their destination and then boarding another metro without exiting the station and purchasing proper tickets. On average, around 40 such offenders are being caught daily.

According to Metro Railway officials, it has been observed that Esplanade-bound passengers are boarding metros heading to Howrah Maidan from Howrah station to enjoy an extra, free metro ride. Similar behaviour has been noted at Mahakaran Metro station,

where Howrah Maidan-bound commuters take metros going in the opposite direction to Esplanade to secure seats. This practice causes inconvenience to other metro commuters and results in financial losses for the Metro Railway.

To address this issue, a 14-member Special Group has been formed by the Traffic Department. This group conducts daily operations, travelling on running metros to identify and remove passengers who are intentionally overriding without valid tickets.

These perpetrators are escorted out through the AFC-PC gates and requested to purchase valid tickets before resuming their journey.

Additionally, special announcements are being made at Howrah Maidan and Esplanade stations to inform passengers about the ongoing drive and urge them to travel with valid tickets. Metro Authorities have warned that commuters engaging in such practices may face

the embarrassment of forced ejection from metro compartments. The Metro authorities are also considering extending such drives to the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash) in the coming days.