With Phoolbagan extension, E-W footfall goes up four-fold on day 1

Kolkata: The state-of-the-art

Phoolbagan station

was thrown open to the public on Monday, connecting Sector V to Phoolbagan on the East-West line. Till 7.30pm, the footfall at Phoolbagan station was 212.The total passenger count for East-West Metro was 624. This is quite high since before services were extended to Phoolbagan, the line had been ferrying just about 120-150 passengers per day.

Metro Railway GM Manoj Joshi said, “Footfall is expected to be low at present because of the pandemic. Had suburban trains plied from Sealdah station, more people would have used the Phoolbagan station.”

Among those who accessed the new station were Pankaj Jain from Salt Lake and his son Nikit, 8. “The difference between the old underground stations and this brand, new one is remarkable. It even has a ramp to the toilet,” the private firm employee said.

“I will tell my friends that I have seen this brand new Metro station before anybody else,” Nikit said.

Bansdroni resident Abhishek Bhagat, 18, who boarded the first train from Masterda Surya Sen station to MG Road before taking an auto to Phoolbagan, said, “Visuals of the Phoolbagan station have been doing the rounds of social media for some time and I had to see it for myself. This looks just like an airport.”

Phoolbagan is also the city’s first underground Metro station with full floor-to-ceiling platform screen doors (PSD). “I have seen these in Delhi,” said Apurva Kapoor, a Kankurgachhi resident who had come to see the “snazzy” station. “PSDs in underground platforms also prevent cool air from the air-conditioned platforms from escaping into the tracks, and thus save power,” a Metro staffer told her.

Phoolbagan resident Moumita Kundu decided to take the Metro to work. “The station is the best thing to have happened to us in a long time. I am taking the train to my Sector V office and it will take me only 15 minutes,” the IT worker said.