KOLKATA:
Metro started its first e-pass-free journey on Monday, operating the services somewhat like it did in the pre-Covid days. Trains plied at 6-minute frequencies during peak hours as 12 more daily services were added, taking the total to 240. North-south Metro’s passenger count on Monday was 1,92,007.
Also, more gates were kept open at the different north-south stations. As per the SOP in
Covid times, customized entry and exit were allowed at each station to control footfalls ever since Metro resumed operations on September 14 after a 176-day hiatus. Since e-passes were required to be booked in advance, only single entry gates were opened initially.
Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi told TOI last week, “Now that the Covid situation has improved, we can completely operate without e-passes. Our ridership is only 25% of the pre-pandemic times. We are still not issuing tokens. Schools and colleges haven’t reopened. So, we can continue to follow distancing norms inside trains.”
Joshi added, “Commuters, especially those living in the suburbs, who have stayed away from the Metro because they would find it difficult to download digital passes, may avail of the service.”
A K Ghosh, a 50-year-old central government employee, took his first Metro ride on Monday in Covid times. “Since there were no e-passes to be downloaded, I can travel to my office in CR Avenue from Dum Dum. My office hours are 11am to 5pm. All these days, e-passes were required during these times.” The colour-coded e-passes, generated from a URL and booked in advance to access the north-south line, were key to controlling crowd. But Metro Railway eased
e-pass rules gradually, allowing senior citizens, women and children to board without them. Since January 4, e-pass hours were reduced to two in the morning and two in the evening on weekdays (Monday to Friday).
To make sure that the city’s transport lifeline was safely back in action during the pandemic, the state government appointed Ideation Technology, a technology partner with the state transport department for a three-month contract to develop the e-passes. In December, the contract was extended for another month. On January 6, Sanjay Chatterjee, who heads Ideation Technology, was told that the last day for issuing e-passes would be January 15. Metro already exempted weekends from the purview of e-passes.