Kolkata Metro reschedules special night service timings
The Metro Railway hopes that the number of commuters availing the service will rise if the timing is advanced. Instead of 11 pm, the trains will now run from 10.40 pm from both Kavi Subhas and Dum Dum metro stations on an experimental basis from Monday to Friday, a statement said.
The Kolkata Metro Railway on Wednesday announced that the timings for its special night service along the North-South corridor will be advanced by 20 minutes from June 24.
The Metro Railway hopes that the number of commuters availing the service will rise if the timing is advanced.
Instead of 11 pm, the trains will now run from 10.40 pm from both Kavi Subhas and Dum Dum metro stations on an experimental basis from Monday to Friday, a statement said.
The special trains were being run at 11 pm from both ends five days a week from May 24.
"Metro Railway has been running a special service on the blue line on an experimental basis at 11 pm. Though the service was introduced with the hope that it would cater to a large number of people, it has been observed that the night service is not being patronised by the Metro commuters. As a result, on an average only 300 passengers are travelling in each train at night after 11 pm between Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash," the statement said.
"To run the service, Metro Railway has been incurring huge expenses -- around Rs. 2.7 lakh daily as running cost along with Rs 50,000 as other expenses, but in return revenue earnings from these two trains have been very dismal at only Rs 6,000 per day. It has also been observed that in many stations only one or two tokens on an average were being sold from counters to the commuters," Kolkata Metro spokesperson Kaushik Mitra said.
It seems that the 11 pm service is too late for commuters and it is hoped that with advancement of timings, more people will avail the service, he said.
Mitra said ticket counters will not remain open for the night service from June 24 and passengers can purchase tokens from ASCRM machines installed at the stations by using UPI payment mode.
Also, those having Kolkata Metro smartcards can also avail the special service, he said.
In the regular service, the last trains leave Dum Dum and Kavi Subhas at 9.40 pm.
With the advancement in timings, the gap between regular and special services has reduced to one hour from the previous one hour and twenty minutes.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Senior Citizen Latest FD Rates: Know what major banks like SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank are providing on fixed deposits
Gratuity Calculator: Rs 38,000 as last-drawn basic salary, 5 years and 5 months of service; what will be gratuity amount?
Retirement Planning: In how many years your Rs 25K monthly SIP investment will grow to Rs 8.8 cr | See calculations
Top 5 Small Cap Mutual Funds with best SIP returns in 1 year: See how Rs 25,000 monthly investment has grown in each scheme
Top 7 SBI Mutual Funds With Best SIP Returns in 1 Year: Rs 25,000 monthly SIP investment in No.1 fund has jumped to Rs 3,58,404
SBI 5-Year FD vs MIS: Which can offer higher returns on a Rs 2,00,000 investment over 5 years? See calculations
07:15 PM IST