Sealdah connected, buzz at Salt Lake

Excitement and happiness were visible on the faces of people boarding Metro trains at Sector V to the newly inaugurated Sealdah Metro station. Sector V Metro station in Salt Lake was abuzz with excitement today.

The first Metro train from Sealdah ferried 175 passengers. “A distance of 2.33 km has been added to the Metro map Thursday. It will help thousands of commuters reach their destinations in Salt Lake and New Town areas comfortably and very fast,” said officials.

“It will save time. I used to take a taxi to work and it would take over an hour to reach the office. Metros are faster and convenient,” said Ashit Kumar Dey, an advocate at the Calcutta High Court.

Along with the daily commuters, many people were waiting for their first ride to the new station. Sector V Metro station, where ticket counters never saw queues earlier, has long lines of people waiting for a joyride on a random Thursday afternoon.

Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated Sealdah Railway station on the East-West Corridor of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) on Monday. The station was, however, thrown open for the people on Thursday.

“The route has been operational since 2020 but you will hardly see passengers. But today there are so many passengers here,” said 19-year-old Shreya Das, a fashion designing student.

Nimish Tiwary, 27, said compartments with numbers will make it easy for the people to find their friends travelling in other compartments.

According to Metro officials, 31,037 passengers travelled on the Green Line (EW) on Thursday with Sealdah station recording a footfall of 12,681 passengers. The first 100 commuters were welcomed with roses by Metro officers and staff at the station.