The commissioning of the full stretch of the East-West Metro (Green Line) has led to a surge in the passenger count of the Sealdah suburban railway section, a senior railway official said on Monday.
“There is a surge in the number of passengers in the Sealdah suburban section. Before the full stretch of the Green Line started, we had around six lakh passengers every day. Since August 22, we have recorded around seven lakh passengers every day,” said Rajeev Saxena, divisional railway manager, Sealdah.
“As we head towards the Durga Puja festival, we expect the numbers to rise even more,” Saxena said on Monday.
According to an official of the Sealdah division, the number of passengers here represents those who bought tickets at Sealdah station. The Sealdah Main, South, and Sealdah-Budge Budge suburban sections see a combined footfall of over 15 lakh per day.
On August 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three new Metro sections — Esplanade to Sealdah (2.45 km) on the Green Line, completing the 16.6 km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake Sector V; Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (Airport) (6.77 km) on the Yellow Line; and Ruby to Beleghata (4.39 km) on the Orange Line.
The Sealdah division has lined up two additional new air-conditioned EMU (electric multiple unit) services — one on the Sealdah–Bongaon-Ranaghat route and another between Sealdah and Krishnagar. The trains will run six days a week, from Monday to Saturday.
The dates are yet to be announced, but the additional trains will start running from this month, said Saxena.
The new train on the Sealdah–Bongaon-Ranaghat route will connect Dum Dum Cantonment (Yellow Line), Dum Dum (Blue Line) and Sealdah (Green Line) Metro stations.
“This will be helpful for passengers boarding the Yellow Line for Jai Hind (airport) from Dum Dum Cantonment, the Blue Line from Dum Dum, and the Green Line from Sealdah,” said Saxena. The train will stop at Bidhannagar Road, Dum Dum Junction, Dum Dum Cantonment, Madhyamgram, Barasat and Duttapukur.
The other proposed AC EMU will operate between Sealdah and Krishnagar to strengthen connectivity on the busy mainline section. “This will serve daily commuters, especially pilgrims from the ISKCON temple at Mayapur and patients bound for Kalyani AIIMS hospital,” said Saxena. “By road, the journey takes no less than four hours, but with the introduction of this train, it will take only two hours to reach Krishnagar,” he added.
The train will halt at Bidhannagar Road, Dum Dum Junction, Belgharia, Sodepur, Khardah and Barrackpore.
Sealdah Division had already introduced an AC EMU train between Sealdah and Ranaghat on August 10. Two more AC EMU services have been proposed to reduce the ever-increasing congestion at stations such as Sealdah, Bidhannagar Road, Dum Dum and Dum Dum Cantonment.
A foot overbridge will also be constructed at Dum Dum Cantonment station to connect directly with the Metro Railway.