The dream is going to come true from today.It’s indeed a proud moment for all the Kolkatans.
For the first time in the country, Metro is going to run under a mighty river, namely Hooghly . The first Metro will leave simultaneously from Howrah Maidan and Esplanade on Howrah Maidan -Esplanade Stretch of East-West Metro at 07.00 hrs. It is going to be a momentous occasion.
The ‘City of Joy’ was eagerly waited for that moment.It is expected that from the very first day, this Metro will see huge footfall as people will be eager to travel on this stretch for a life-time experience. There are four stations namely, Howrah Maidan, Howrah, Mahakaran and Esplanade on this stretch. Howrah station, one of the deepest Metro stations in the country, is going to cater to the commuters of Easten Railway as well as South Eastern Railway. The 520-metre stretch under the river Hooghly which has been constructed in a record time of 66 days is going to be the prime attraction of this stretch. The under-river tunnels (East-Bound and West-Bound) have specially been illuminated and painted with aquatic creatures so that commuters can clearly understand that the rake is passing under the river portion.
Metro services on this stretch will be available from Monday to Saturday at 12-15 minutes interval. Last services will leave from Howrah Maidan and Esplanade at 21.45 hrs. There will be no services on Sundays.
Along with this, Metro’s Commercial Services on Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay stretch of Orange Line are also going to start from 09.00 hrs tomorrow. The first Metro from Kavi Subhash and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay will start with passengers at that time. The last Metro on this stretch will start from the terminal stations at 16.40 hrs. The services on this stretch will be available from Monday to Friday at 20 minutes interval. There will be no services on Saturdays and Sundays.
Purple Line Metro services are also going to be extended from Taratala to Majerhat from tomorrow itself. On this stretch, the first commercial service from Joka to Majerhat will start at 08.30 hrs and Majerhat to Joka at 08.55 hrs from tomorrow. The last service will leave Joka station at 15.10 hrs and Majerhat station at 15.35 hrs.There will be no service available on this stretch on Saturdays and Sundays.
From Metro counters, only tokens and Smart Cards will be available for all these stretches. Integrated tickets will be available to travel in Green Line (Howrah Maidan to Esplanade Stretch), Blue Line and Orange Line from the ticket counters only upto 15.30 hrs. No wheel chair facility will be available at these new Metro stations. Passengers are requested to carry luggages not more than 10 kgs and which are not bulky in nature. Otherwise, it may inconvenience fellow commuters.
Metro Authorities have taken all possible measures to fulfil the expectations of lacs of commuters who are eager to witness this history. To live up to their expectations and excitements, necessary safety and security measures have already been taken.Mock fire evacuation drills have also been conducted yesterday to check the last-minute preparedness of Metro staff to mitigate any emergency. These drills were conducted in between Esplanade and Mahakaran stations of Green Line as well as Kavi Subhash and Satyajit Ray stations of Orange Line in this afternoon in presence of Senior Metro officials.
Kausik Mitra,Chief Public Relations Officer,Metro Railway stated this in a release.
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
( Author is a Sr.journalist working for British Media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and National media awards for Journalism.)
