Metro Railway will run 64 trains every day from Saptami to Dashami (October 23 to 26), instead of 152 daily trains now, an official said.

On October 23, 24, 25 and 26, the first and last trains are likely to leave the terminal stations at 10am and 9pm. The timings and the number of trains from Saptami to Dashami are similar to the present Sunday schedule.

Metro sources said the order was in keeping with the spirit of the high court’s Monday order that all puja pandals must be treated as “containment zones”. The order does not say anything about public transport.

“The high court has discouraged crowding at pandals. We want to run a reduced number of trains to send a message that people should stay home during the Puja for their safety,” said the official.

From Monday to Saturday, the carrier runs 152 trains every day. The number was increased from 146 from Monday. The first and last trains leave the terminal stations at 8am and 9pm. Till last week, the last trains used to leave at 8.30pm.

Metro had earlier reported that unlike previous years, there would be no Metro trains through the night from Saptami to Navami as a precaution against the spread of Covid. Doctors and public health experts have been fearing a surge in Covid numbers after the Puja.

The city’s transport lifeline ferries a substantial load of puja revellers every year. At stations like Dum Dum and Kalighat, a sea of heads is a recurrent sight throughout the day.

In 2019, Metro had carried 61.6 lakh passengers between Tritiya and Dashami. On Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, the first and last trains left the terminal stations at 1pm and 4am.

The suspension of suburban trains, which most people from outside the city count on before they hop on to Metro, will also have reduced the puja crowd.

The carrier’s daily passenger count has breached the 80,000 mark and is inching towards 100,000, the target the authorities had set in the run-up to the resumption of commercial services.

Amid the Covid pandemic, officials are apprehensive of managing even a fraction of the usual Puja rush.

“We respect the high court’s decision. The puja schedule is being finalised. This year’s Puja is different from the past and we have to take into account the risks associated with the pandemic,” Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.