Metro Railway has started with commercial services from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch under river Hooghly.
As a result, commuters of Kolkata, Howrah and districts like Hooghly, Medinipur, Bardhhaman are travelling with ease under any mighty river like Hooghly for the first time in the country. They are really happy, which is getting reflected in their eyes and facial expressions. In order to make this under the river journey memorable, Metro Authorities have arranged to make special running commentaries, depicting the salient features of this tunnel and its importance and the history of construction when the train is leaving Howrah and Mahakaran stations.
Special videos are also on display on the screens inside the rakes. Commuters are seen taking selfies and videos of this journey especially on 520 metres stretch under the river Hooghly. The tunnels which have been decorated with special blue light and paintings of aquatic features are also drawing commuters from the day one. Bloggers, vloggers have lined up to capture such beautiful scenes in their cameras. This nine-minute journey from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade has eased the traffic movement of people residing in Howrah. They have started to travel in Metro instead of the old modes of commuting. With the help of integrated ticket, any commuter boarding in between Howrah Maidan and Mahakaran can travel up to any station of Blue Line and Green Line comfortably without any traffic snarl. To facilitate their seamless change-over at Esplanade and Kavi Subhash stations, adequate arrangements have been made with proper signages and announcements and deployment of additional staff.
It is expected that more and more commuters will opt for Metro over other modes of transport in the coming days on this stretch.
Passengers are purchasing Smart Cards more to travel from Howrah, Howrah Maidan on regular basis.
Kausik Mitra,Chief Public Relations Officer,Metro Railway stated this in a release.
