When the Green Line or East-West Metro begins its full Sector V-Howrah Maidan run on Friday, there will be 180 services with eight-minute frequencies during peak hours, sources said. The corridor will operate every day of the week.
Currently, the East-West Metro operates in two separate sections: the 9.2 km Sector V-Sealdah or Green Line I and the 4.8 km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan or Green Line II. The 2.6 km Esplanade-Sealdah segment will start operations on Friday, completing the 16.6 km East-West Metro corridor. Green Line II operates on Sundays, but there are no trains on the Sector V-Sealdah section that day.
As per the report, the new services will offer fares starting at Rs 5 and capped at Rs 70. The fare structure is distance-based, with slabs across the different corridors.
The tentative schedule is as follows: Trains will run every 15 minutes until 9 am. From 9 am to noon, trains will come every eight minutes. From noon to 4:30 pm, the frequency will increase to every 10 minutes. From 4:30 pm to 8 pm, passengers can expect trains every eight minutes.
Metro Railway currently operates 134 daily services on Green Line II and 108 on Green Line I. When the two sections connect on Friday, there will be 180 daily services from 6:35 am to 9:40 pm at the Sector V and Howrah Maidan stations. Commuters will see trains every eight minutes during morning and evening rush hours and every 10 minutes in the afternoons. In non-peak hours, trains will run every 15 minutes.
To support the increased services, five additional rakes will be added. Right now, five rakes service the two separate sections. East-West Metro employs modern BEML rakes that use a communication-based train control or advanced signaling system.
These rakes require regular maintenance at the Salt Lake Central Park maintenance depot. Since there is no stabling yard at the Howrah end, there will be a slight difference in the timing of trains departing from the two terminal stations, officials stated.
Metro Railway announced on Tuesday that the expected daily ridership for East-West Metro or the Green Line would be six lakh passengers. Currently, around 1 lakh people use the East-West Metro or Green Lines I and II each day.
