Kolkata:India's oldest and cheapest underground railways Kolkata Metro on Monday rolled out after a gap of 174 days with a few riders.The commercial services resumed nearly six months after the operations were suspended following Covid-19 situation with strict adherence to social distancing norms and other safety protocols due to the pandemic.
The commercial run began exactly from 8 AM today after 174 days from two terminals - Dum Dum in north and Kavi Subhas in south, a day after the country's oldest Metro ferried NEET aspirants free as a special service.
However, there had not been many riders on the first day due to Covid restriction as the booking of e-passes started at 8 PM on Sunday.These services are available in every ten minutes from two ends (terminal stations)and the last trains will chug off at 7 PM.
"Only smart card users will be allowed to travel by Metro trains," said Metro General Manager Manoj Joshi.New smart cards can be bought from stations - at counters and smart card vending machines at some stations.
Existing smart card users can recharge at stations or online - from the Metro app and website.
One of the commuters said he never had such a ride on a nearly empty coach.He said the rush would happen when the commuters would find it easy to get e-pass for the ride.(UNI)