The Metro Railway Kolkata recorded a ridership of nearly eight lakh passengers on ‘Panchami’, a day ahead of the Durga Puja festivities, an official said on Friday.

Metro services in the arterial north-south line will operate throughout the night on ‘Saptami’, ‘Ashtami’ and ‘Navami’ from Saturday to Monday to facilitate revellers during West Bengal’s biggest festival, he said.

"The north-south metro carried 7,92,060 passengers on Thursday (‘Panchami’) with a total of 288 services during the day," the official said.

He said that this is owing to passengers preferring the metro rail over other modes of transport to reach their destinations during the Durga Puja days to avoid road traffic.

In the east-west corridor, metro services will operate till midnight from Saturday to Monday.

In order to cater to the festival rush, leaves of all Metro Rail officers and staff have been cancelled, the official added.

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