All-night Metro Railway trains back on Durga Puja days

Metro Railway will run trains through the night during the Durga Puja after a gap of two years. In 2020 and 2021, the services were restricted because of the Covid pandemic.

Metro general manager Arun Arora announced the schedule for Puja 2022 on Friday.

North-south corridor

• On Panchami and Sashthi (September 30 and October 1), Metro will run 288 trains. The first and last trains will leave Dum Dum and New Garia at 8am and 10.50pm. The first and last trains will leave Dakshineswar at 8.10am and 10.38pm. From New Garia, the last Dakshineswar-bound train will leave at 10.40pm.
• On Saptami, Ashtami and Navami (October 2, 3 and 4), the carrier will run 248 trains. The first and last trains will leave Dum Dum and New Garia at 1pm and 4am. The first and last trains will leave Dakshineswar at 1pm and 3.48am. From New Garia, the last Dakshineswar-bound train will leave at 3.50am.
• On Dashami (October 5), the carrier will run 132 trains. The first and last trains will leave Dum Dum and New Garia at 1pm and 10pm. The first and last train will leave Dakshineswar at 1pm and 9.48pm. The last Dakshineswar-bound train will leave New Garia at 9.50pm.
• On October 6, 7 and 8 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), the carrier will run 234 trains. The usual weekday train count is 288, and the normal Saturday count is 282. The first and last trains will leave Dum Dum and New Garia at 6.50am and 9.40pm. From Dakshineswar, the first and last trains will leave at 7am and 9.28pm. The last Dakshineswar-bound train will leave New Garia at 9.30pm.

“We urge passengers to switch to smart cards to avoid long wait for tokens on the Puja days,” said Arora.

East-West Metro

• The carrier will run 72 trains between Sealdah and Sector V on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami (October 2, 3 and 4). The first train will leave Sealdah at 11.55am and Sector V at noon. The last train will leave Sealdah at 11.35pm and Sector V at 11.40pm.
• On Dashami (October 5), there will be 48 trains. The first train will leave Sealdah at 11.55am and Sector V at noon. The last train will leave Sealdah at 7.35pm and Sector V at 7.40pm. Arora said the passenger count in has gone up significantly after the opening of Sealdah station in July.

“In June, East-West Metro, operational from Phoolbagan to Sector V, had 61,000 passengers. In August, the count was 8.27 lakh,” he said.