Metro Railway tokens will be suspended from Monday to enforce the 50 per cent cap on passenger count imposed by the state government, the carrier said.
“Metro Railway is going to temporarily suspend issuance of tokens from Monday till further notice in order to operate with 50 per cent capacity as per usual operational time,” said a release from the carrier, hours after a notification was issued from Nabanna, announcing fresh curbs to check the renewed surge in Covid cases.
“Only smart cards will be issued from Metro counters. Only smart card holders will be able to travel in Metro. Smart card holders will also be able to recharge their cards like before,” said the release.
There is no cap on Metro passengers at present.
The number of weekday trains is going to come down to 270 from 276, starting Monday, the carrier said.
The last trains will leave Dum Dum and New Garia at 9pm instead of 9.30pm. The last trains will leave Dakshineswar at 8.48pm, instead of 9.18pm.
There is no change in the timing of the first trains, which will leave the terminal stations at 7am.
“The night curfew sets in from 10pm. So, the timings of the last trains had to be changed,” said a Metro official.
Till Sunday night, there was no word on the number and timings of the trains on Saturday and Sunday.
“Metro services shall operate with 50 per cent of the seating capacity as per usual operational time,” said the order issued from Nabanna on Sunday.
Metro officials are interpreting the 50 per cent cap as half of the average daily passenger count before the pandemic, which hovered between six and seven lakh.
But the post-pandemic footfall had been on the lower side.
Since the resumption of tokens on November 25, after a gap of nearly 21 months, the daily passenger count has been between 3.5 and 4 lakh.
“Every day, over 1 lakh tokens are sold from the counters. The suspension of tokens will bring the passenger count well within the 50 per cent limit,” said Protyush Ghosh, deputy general manager, Metro Railway.
Tokens had been suspended since March 2020 to combat the spread of the coronavirus. When Metro services resumed in September 2020, the carrier had introduced colour coded e-passes for entering the stations. A smart card was a must for a train ride.
When services resumed last year, after another round of suspension, the e-pass system was not there but a smart card was still a must for a ride.
In March this year, the authorities had planned to bring back the token system but the second wave of Covid forced them to abort the plan.