Kolkata: Kolkata achieves a transportation milestone today with the first direct Metro rail connection to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.
This is part of two new Metro sections commencing operations today. One is a 6.77Km stretch on the Yellow Line from Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (airport station). The other is a 4.39 Km stretch on the Orange Line from Ruby to Beleghata.
The Noapara- Jai Hind Bimanbandar Yellow Line will have 120 daily services with a peak-hour frequency of 10 minutes. The link will be shut down on Saturday and Sunday.
The first trains will leave terminal stations at 7:58 am and the last trains will leave at 8 pm. The fares will range from Rs 5 to Rs 20.
Currently, passengers arriving at Jai Hind station must walk through an 80 metre tunnel equipped with walkators and escalators to reach the terminal at gate 1A. They can use external elevators to reach the departure level.
The Metro plans to set up airline check-in counters at the arrival level, along with the security hold area for Metro passengers. The counters will be near gates 1A and 1B.
With today’s development, residents across Kolkata’s northern and southern areas, as well as Howrah, can travel to the airport entirely by Metro.
The Yellow Line connects with the Blue Line at Noapara, while the Blue and Green lines meet at Esplanade.
However, Kolkata Metro now expects modest airport ridership. Until more direct routing to the airport does not happens, people will not travel with heavy luggage as they have to switch lines.
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