A view of new rake of East-West metro in Kolkata.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The Kolkata Metro has registered a footfall of over 11 crore passengers, so far in seven months, this financial year.
A total of 11.18 crore passengers have travelled in the city’s metro routes till Oct 31, and the footfall seemingly continues to increase. The oldest route in the city, North-South or Blue Line has carried the maximum number of passengers – 10.48 lakh crore in the said time duration.
The East-West (Green Line) Metro, which is operational on a part of the entire planned route, carried 69.39 lakh passengers. The third route, Joka-Taratala stretch of Purple Line, had 78,131 passengers travelling.
According to an official note, Metro had carried 9.94 crore passengers during April-October in 2022. When current year’s crowd strength is compared with that of the previous year, there’s an increase of 12.47 per cent in the footfall. This year in October – also the month when West Bengal celebrates its biggest festival, Durga Puja – the Metro carried 1.83 crore passengers. Last year, in October 2022, the strength was 1.76 crore. For the month, the growth registered compared to October, 2022, the growth registered is 3.98 per cent.
Kolkata, like other densely populated cities in India, has its own traffic challenges. The Metro Railway in the city is the country’s first. “Since its introduction, Metro Railway has been the preferred mode of transport for all,” the official note stated. The Metro, meanwhile, is on an expansion spree, and is witnessing an increasing passenger-load as well.