Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS) Metro Railway, Kolkata, recorded a record footfall on the six days of Durga Puja this year, without any major incident being reported.
According to figures released by the Metro on October 22, the number of people who availed its services between Panchami and Dashami was 61.51 lakh. Nightlong services were run in the Blue (Garia-Dakshineswar) and Green (Howrah Maidan-Salt Lake Sector V) lines on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami for pandal hoppers.
Additional services were also run on the other lines.
“On Sasthi, 12.01 lakh passengers travelled by Metro. This has been the highest ever daily passenger count in the history of Metro Railway, Kolkata,” an official said.
In 2025, the number of passengers who availed the special Metro services, between Panchami and Dashami, was 46.56 lakh. The highest passenger footfall was recorded at Dum Dum station with more than 4.97 lakh passengers from Panchami to Dashami.
Kalighat station ranked second with more than 4.83 lakh passengers, followed by Sealdah station with more than 4.19 lakh passengers during the same period, the official said.
With Metro lines now crisscrossing Kolkata, pandal hoppers – not only from the city, but the suburbs – prefer to use the services to visit various Durga Puja pandals. The heavy footfall at Dum Dum station was due to it being a link between the Metro and suburban train services to the north of Kolkata.
“During the Puja days, crowd management was a great challenge for Metro Railway. In order to ensure efficient crowd management, elaborate planning was made, and accordingly various measures were taken. Crowd management instructions were prepared and issued to assign roles and responsibilities to each officer and staff deployed for Puja duty,” the official said.
Prior to the Pujas, a series of meetings were held with station staff and those of other departments to design a flawless action plan to handle the crowd. During Puja days, a large number of officers and staff were deployed at various crowded stations to ensure smooth services and crowd management.
“Metro authorities were also in constant touch with the Kolkata and West Bengal Police and held meetings in advance to make adequate arrangements. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and state police personnel were deployed at stations to ensure safety and security of commuters,” he said.
There was extensive CCTV monitoring as part of the crowd management plan to help deploy security personnel effectively and manage crowd dispersal smoothly. Smooth train operations and effective crowd management were ensured during the Puja days.
Medical Booths with doctors and paramedical staff, along with other adequate arrangements, were also provided at different important stations for handling any medical emergency, the official added.
To ensure compliance, top officials, including Metro Railway general manager Prem Sagar Gupta, visited various stations and travelled in trains.
To obtain feedback, the Metro Railway organised Rail Jan Samvad at different stations on October 22, 2026. Through this, commuters were able to interact with senior officials and give their opinions about Metro cleanliness, services and other amenities. Young commuters participated enthusiastically in these camps.
Senior officials personally interacted with the commuters and assured them they would examine all the suggestions in due course of time. Suggestions that are feasible would be implemented, they said.
–IANS
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