From the Ruby crossing to Chandni Chowk in 52 minutes by Metro, which is not bad. But what is not good is the confusion at the New Garia interface to take a train in the north-south corridor.
On Friday afternoon, Metro took a ride from Hemanta Mukhopadhyay station (Ruby intersection) to Kavi Subhash station (New Garia) on the inaugural day of the commercial run on the stretch, and then onwards to Chandni Chowk.
The ride was smooth and the trains were running on time, but the lack of signage at the New Garia station posed difficulties for many passengers to find their way to the platform for the Dum Dum-bound train.
The New Garia-Ruby crossing stretch is part of the Orange Line, which, once complete, will link New Garia to the airport.
However, after getting off the train, the platform led to a concourse that leads in two directions — towards a platform entry/exit gate and an escalator and elevator.
Several passengers went towards the platform entry/exit gate which had red cross marks, indicating “no entry”.
“Idhaar se nahin jaa sakte hain! Dum Dum train ke liye udhar se lift lijiye (You cannot go through here. To take a train for Dum Dum, go that way and take an elevator),” said one of the two Metro employees standing there.
Those were the only Metro employees this newspaper could spot.
Even after taking the elevator up to the next concourse, there were again two diversions. On the right was an area with a signage saying “Exit”.
This newspaper asked another person about the way to the Dum Dum-bound platform.
Finally, two railway personnel, who said they were going towards the Dum Dum-bound platform, guided a couple of confused passengers. There was another flight of stairs and an escalator that led to the platform, where finally there was signage saying: “North-South Metro (Blue Line)”.
“Standing and asking for directions at every turn made me almost miss the train,” said a passenger, who boarded a Dum Dum-bound train from New Garia.
“There are footprints with separate colour codes that guide passengers from the Orange Line to the Blue Line. The signage has been done following international protocols,” said a senior Metro official.
“However, if we get feedback from passengers about inadequate signage, we will definitely make improvements.”
Signage was not a problem at the Ruby crossing station. There are signboards indicating the ticket counters and the platform. At the entrance to the platform there is a display board mentioning which train will be available from which platform.
In the east-west line, there was no dearth of signage at the stations.
At the Howrah and Esplanade stations, where there is an interface with the suburban and other Metro lines, one can easily find his or her way, thanks to the signage.
An official of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the implementing agency of East-West Metro, said there are 220 to 250 signboards at each of the four stations on the newly inaugurated stretch — Howrah Maidan, Howrah, Mahakaran and Esplanade.
Apart from the signage hiccup, the ride from the Ruby crossing to New Garia and onwards to Chandni Chowk was smooth. The train left Hemanta Mukhopadhyay station at 3pm and reached New Garia at 3.12pm. The Dum Dum-bound train arrived at Chandni Chowk at 3.52pm.
Trains on the Ruby crossing-New Garia stretch run at 20-minute intervals. The service duration is between 9am and 4.40pm.