‘Metro taking new initiatives for seamless passenger movement’
The passage connecting the old Esplanade Metro Station of the Blue Line to the new station of the Green Line will be expanded in future to help in commuter movement, a Metro Railway official stated, while adding that enough provision has been kept for the same.
Commercial Metro operations from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade of the Green Line started from March 15. In the initial days, over 60,000 footfalls were recorded. Thereafter, on an average 50,000 footfalls were recorded. The number of commuters continues to remain high on a daily basis in this line. Recently, Metro Railway authorities have installed queue managers at Esplanade Metro station to ensure seamless interchange of passengers between the old Esplanade station (Blue line) and the new Esplanade Station (Green line).
According to the security guards present at the section which connects the two stations, the queue managers have helped in managing crowds and ensuring unidirectional flow where required. However, commuters are facing trouble towards the green line where the entry to the new station from the old one has narrowed, allowing two to three people to pass through at a time.
Strategic installation of these queue managers has also eliminated the possibil
ity of mixing Green Line and Blue Line bound passengers, the Metro authorities stated. Several banners and stickers indicating the direction to stations of both the lines have been flooded around the entry and exit points of the Green line towards the Blue line and vice-versa.
It has helped in reducing the stress upon the staff of both the lines to some extent but commuters continue to remain confused over directions. According to ground staff, the directions have been specified in bold and in three languages –English, Hindi and Bengali – but there continues to be massive confusion amongst commuters. “It will take some more time for the commuters to get used to it,” a staff member said.