Construction works of most of the stations between Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch of East-West Metro are almost complete. Now electrical, beautification and other miscellaneous works are going on in full swing and also nearing completion.
Target has been set to open this stretch for commercial run by this year-end. Once that is done commuting from Howrah to Esplanade will be a cakewalk. Howrah and Kolkata, these century-old twin cities will be connected under the river Hooghly by Metro services. Underground Howrah Metro station is now taking the final shape and this station is going to be country’s deepest Metro station at a depth of 35 meters. Residents of adjoining districts of Kolkata will easily avail Metro services after getting down at Howrah station in Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway suburban services.
A major progress towards meeting that target has been achieved as AFC-PC gates are being installed at the concourse level of Howrah station for Automatic Fare Collection and Passenger Control. At this station, total thirty-two (32) AFC-PC gates will be installed to manage the expected rush. Howrah Metro station of Green Line will have maximum number of AFC-PC gates. Out of these, twenty (20) gates will be bi-directional which will enable station staff to control and change the direction of passenger movement during peak hours. Such flexibility will enable commuters to enter/exit smoothly into/from the paid area of Howrah Metro station premises which will ensure free flow of commuters. Out of these twenty (20) bi-directional gates, two (02) will be earmarked for wheelchair-bound passengers. Common passengers will also be able to use these two (02) gates. Out of the rest twelve (12) gates, six (06) each will be dedicated only for the entry and exit of passengers separately. All these heavy-duty modern AFC-PC gates will be put into operation once commercial services from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade commence.
These modern gates can handle 45 passengers per minute. Passengers will be able to punch their Metro Tokens or Smart Cards at these gates. These gates also have QR code scanners embedded so that passengers having QR code-based tokens will be able to enter/exit this station through these gates easily.
Kausik Mitra, Chief Public Relations Officer, Eastern and Metro Railway stated this in a press release.
