After a crowded weekend, truncated services of East-West Metro saw a thinner crowd on the first day of the week. While the number of joyriders, who had kept trains full since the commencement of the service on February 14, came down sharply, it was time for office-goers to take over. But the ticket counters didn’t see long queues on Monday morning.
The crowd grew as the day progressed, though. The Sector V and Salt Lake Stadium stations saw a reasonable turnout in the afternoon. Unlike the first weekend, joyriders were replaced with those who availed the services to commute to work or for convenience. Calcutta State Transport Corporation employee Mrinal Das took a train to the Salt Lake Stadium station en route to work. Das said it was convenient for him. “It is getting warmer and I would prefer to avoid commuting in buses, which are crowded anyway. I plan to take an AC bus from Salt Lake Stadium, which is also cheaper for me,” said Das.
“This is still a truncated service and the first day of the week. The crowd should swell towards the middle of the week,” said a Metro employee. It will indeed change the way people in the north-eastern part of the city travel, said state government employee Taj Ahmed. “My office is at Phoolbagan and commuting to work has suddenly become very easy and comfortable for me. And what’s more, the Metro is also faster and cheaper. I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Ahmed.
World Class Passenger Amenities at East-West Metro Stations
The East West Metro features several world class Passenger Amenities like lifts, escalators, concept of barrier free movement, designated parking for differently-abled and Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) to prevent accidents or intentional fall. Apart from preventing suicides and accidents, Metro officials said, PSDs make boarding easier compared with the north-south line, where passengers have no clue where the doors would be, resulting in commotion. PSDs on East West Metro Corridor has been supplied by Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation).
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