East-West Metro rolls into Sealdah, Kolkata waits for under-river journey to Howrah

KOLKATA: Bongaon primary school teacher Prabhat Chatterjee became the first passenger to buy a coupon for the maiden Sealdah-Sector V ride of East-Metro that was thrown open to commuters on Friday. Chatterjee, who became the first ticket-buyer for the momentous journey, spent the night at the station gate to make sure he was the first to enter the station when it opened.
He had missed the “crown” by a whisker last time as Salt Lake’s AC Block resident Rajib Roy had pipped him, when East-West Metro was launched on February 14, 2020, along the truncated 5.5km Sector V-Salt Lake Stadium stretch. “My alarm didn’t go off in time, so I had been late by a few minutes that time,” said the 41-year-old Belgharia resident. He missed the opportunity once again because no visitor was allowed during EastWest Metro’s 1.7km Phoolbagan extension launch on October 5, 2020.

“This time, I didn’t take any chance. I reached Sealdah station a little after midnight and slept at the Metro gate next to the main Sealdah station block,” he said. “I woke up at 3am and stood at the Metro entrance. Around 4.30am, Rajib Roy joined the queue. The gate opened at 6.25am. Some Metro officials spotted me and acknowledged me as the first Sealdah Metro rider.
They promised to give me the first ticket when the counters opened,” Chatterjee said, happy that his labour had paid off and he had beaten Roy, who was vying to be the first Sealdah Metro passenger. Roy, in fact, was invited by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), implementing agency of the 16 km EastWest Metro, on Monday to be present at Sealdah Metro station while Union minister Smriti Irani virtually flagged off the inaugural train. He was confident of bagging the “crown” again, but had not imagined that Chatterjee’s tenacity would beat him.
Overwhelmed, Roy sportingly stood aside as Metro Railway officials ushered Chatterjee to lead the ticket queue. “I had to recognize the zeal and passion of someone like Chatterjee,” said Roy. “I am honoured to be the first rider of the train from Sealdah Metro station,” said Chatterjee. The scene at the other end, Sector V station, was different. Till 6.25am, no commuter had turned up.
As two youngsters Masidur Rahaman and Shamim Sheikh arrived, they were surrounded by media persons. But the two aspirants for an exam at TCS had only come to enquire about their return journeys. Finally, Rajdeep Bose, a bank employee from Kaikhali, walked in and stood in the queue. “I am a Youtuber and have come to video-graph the historic Sealdah run. I became the first rider by default,” the Kaikhali resident said.