Kolkata, September 10: Days after the Centre's Unlock 4 guidelines, the Kolkata Metro on Thursday said it will resume services from September 14. Commuters with smart cards will be allowed to travel in the Kolkata Metro. No tickets will be issued at metro stations. Besides, the metro services in Kolkata will also be available for students appearing for the NEET 2020 and their parents on September 13. Metro Train Resumption: Hardeep Singh Puri Issues SOP For Metro Operations, Here Are Important Guidelines For Passengers.
The metro services in Kolkata will resume from September 14 from 8 am to 8 pm daily, except on Sundays. A total of 110 trains will run at an interval of 10 minutes. Services had been suspended since March when the country went under lockdown to prevent a spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). However, the Centre has allowed resumption of metro train services in a phased manner under its Unlock 4 guidelines. NEET Exams 2020: Mamata Banerjee Lifts Lockdown in West Bengal on September 12 For Ease of Students to Reach Examination Centres.
Metro service will run on September 13 from 11 am to 7 pm for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). According to the new guidelines issued by the Kolkata Metro yesterday, e-pass will be made available on the Metro Rail's official website or on the Pathadisha app, which needs to be booked by the passenger 12 hours prior to the journey. The last train will start at 7 pm from both the end stations.
Metro stations under the containment zones will remain shut. The new guidelines also said that trains will stop for 30 seconds now at every station, instead of 20 seconds earlier. There will be seats with cross marks where passengers will not be allowed to sit. Officials of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the state police will jointly screen all the passengers with valid e-passes before entering the station premises.
Only Metro Rail officials will be able to enter the stations showing their identity cards and then they can collect necessary passes. Special passes will be issued for employees of contract agencies who work for the Kolkata Metro.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2020 05:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).