Calcutta: The city's transport lifeline is on Google Maps, telling you how far the nearest Metro station is and when the next train will come along.

At 5.45pm, a search for options to reach Mocambo on Park Street from E-Mall on CR Avenue showed the Metro option alongside bus, car, app cabs and on-foot options.

The app also showed the correct fare (Rs 5) between Chandni Chowk and Park Street, the station closest to the destination.

On exploring the Metro option, the app showed the distance between the location, E-Mall, and the nearest Metro station, Chandni Chowk, to be 70 metres or a minute's walk. There is a Metro every five minutes from Chandni Chowk and the walking distance between Park Street station and Mocambo is around a minute, the app said.

When this reporter stepped onto the platform, a Garia-bound train was leaving the station. The next train arrived before five minutes.

Barring one or two instances - the app showed Maidan instead of Park Street as the nearest Metro station when Flury's Park Street was typed as the destination from Chandni Chowk - the information was credible.

Below the underground route's icon, other options like Uber, Ola and state buses were available. A search for options between Chandni Chowk and Kalighat showed the Metro topping the list of recommended modes of transport.

Reaching Kalighat via Metro would take 22 minutes, the app said, compared to 35 minutes by an app cab.

"The feature was launched a few months ago and is available on Google Maps in Calcutta," a spokesperson for Google said.

Regular Metro commuters said they had been receiving updates on the underground route near stations for a while.

"I got a notification from Google Maps this afternoon, asking if I was near Dum Dum Metro station. I was a minute away. It said there was a seven-minute interval between trains. A green tick said station 'status OK'," a young man from Baranagar said.

A technology website had recently reported that Google Maps would add a useful new feature for the transit option, including notifications and real-time updates. It said Google would show alerts and notifications like it does when one uses the app in driving mode.

A Metro Railway official confirmed the availability of the transit option on Google Maps, but could not comment on updates in real time. Delhi Metro tied up with Google Maps in September to share routes, fares and platform details with those using the app.