Kolkata Metro Railway services will resume operations on September 14 after remaining suspended for more than five months, reported PTI quoting  General Manager Manoj Joshi. The authorities have also announced special services for NEET examinees and their guardians on September 13 between 10 am and 7 pm at intervals of 15 minutes.

According to Joshi, September 14 onwards, Metro Railway will run 110 services on the Noapara-Kavi Subhash line every day, except Sundays when operations will remain shut for sanitisation of rakes and stations. He told PTI, “Between Noapara and Kavi Subhash, 55 trains will run in each direction starting from 8 am. The last train will leave the terminal stations on both ends at 7 pm.”

On the other hand, operations will also be resuming on the East-West line from September 14 between Sector V and Salt Lake Stadium stations with 36 services in each direction. 

Joshi said that the first train will leave at 8 am and the last train of the day will depart the terminal stations at both ends at 7.40 pm. The services will be available between Monday and Saturday.

On the Noapara-Kavi Subhash line, trains will run at an interval of 10 minutes during peak hours and the stoppage duration have been increased from 20 seconds to 30 in order to avoid the rush for boarding or deboarding.

According to an official, only smart cards will be allowed for travelling on the metro. The e-passes can be booked from the ‘Pathadisha’ mobile app. Entry to the metro stations will only be allowed on showing the e-passes. Joshi said that bookings for e-passes will commence from Sunday and a passenger can book both onward and return journeys.

A maximum of 400 passengers will be allowed in each train at a time to avoid crowding and to maintain COVID-19 related norms.

The Metro Railway has issued a set of dos and don’ts for passengers including wearing masks and having to to sanitise their hands from sanitiser dispensers placed at each platform before boarding a train. 

According to the official, passengers will have to get their body temperature checked through thermal screening at the time of entry to a metro station and will have to use specified gates for entry and exit. 

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal urged passengers to follow the dos and don’ts in a tweet. He said, “Kolkata Metro back on track: To ensure safe Metro travel, follow all the Dos and Don’ts. This is for your own safety.”