Kolkata Metro: services from Sept 13, “boarding pass”, online tickets, state-supervised security measures

The West Bengal government and Kolkata Metro Railway authorities held a meeting at Metro Bhawan in Kolkata on Friday and discussed the detailed plan of resuming Metro services in the city from September 13.

The Bengal government had requested the Metro authorities to run trains on September 13 when the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is scheduled as it would greatly benefit candidates. For the regular services, a decision has been taken to not issue tokens for now and to use smart cards with online booking of tickets. Online refilling of smart cards through app, and purchasing tickets online are some of the other measures being taken and will be finalised and made public soon, said officials. The Metro and state government authorities are also discussing the concept of “passes” to restrict the entry of passengers in order to avoid overcrowding.

State and city police authorities are likely to guard entry points to monitor and restrict entry of those without tickets and “passes”. Security personnel and police are likely to also manually check the number of commuters inside the stations and in compartments. Maintaining social distancing, wearing masks are restrictions that must be mandatorily followed. Kolkata Metro authorities will resume partial running of trains at longer intervals.

On Thursday, officials from both sides had met at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna. Metro services have that have remained suspended for months now owing to the outbreak of COVID-19.