Kolkata Metro has recently augmented the commuting experience for passengers on the Blue Line and Green Line 2 Corridors by commissioning three new Automated Fare Collection and Passenger Control (AFC-PC) gates at Old Esplanade metro Station.
More Details:
Three new AFC-PC gates have been commissioned behind the middle ticket counters of the Old Esplanade Metro station of Blue Line for the benefit of the Metro users. Metro Railway (Kolkata) making sure that these new gates have been enabling commuters of Blue Line and Green Line 2 Corridors to exit smoothly from the paid areas of old and new Esplanade Metro stations premises. One out of these three Smart Gates is Bi-directional.
Making Commuting Easier for Passengers:
- As Esplanade is the meeting point of the Blue Line and Green Line, so keeping in mind the rush of passengers these additional QR enabled gates have been installed. These modern gates can handle 45 passengers per minute.
- Passengers after getting down at the old Esplanade Metro station can now punch their Metro Tokens, Smart Cards at these gates to exit the station premises.
- Apart from that, commuters coming from Green Line 2 (Howrah Maidan-Esplanade) and willing to exit from Old Esplanade Metro station of Blue Line through the common corridor, can also punch their Metro Tokens, Smart Cards and scan QR Coded tickets at these gates.
- With the addition of these three new AFC-PC Gates, at present there are 28 such Smart Gates at old Esplanade Metro station.
- Out of these 28 gates, 5 gates are QR enabled gates and 23 gates are dedicated for the entry and exit of passengers travelling with tokens and Smart Cards.
38 % Increase in Non-Fare Revenue earnings of Metro:
Metro Railway has been playing a pivotal role in increasing the Non-Fare Revenue earnings of Indian Railways. Following the guidelines of Railway Board, Metro Railway, in spite of being one of the smallest zones of Indian Railways, showed remarkable results in its effort to increase Non-Fare Revenue earnings in the previous years. Keeping that tradition intact in the current fiscal i.e., 2024-25, Kolkata Metro has been able to register itself as one of the front runners among all Railway zones in producing sterling results.
- As part of endeavours, Metro Railway has been focusing on generating revenues through branding of Litter Bins at stations, displaying advertisements inside and outside Metro rakes, displaying hoardings in open spaces and installing health check-up kiosks at different stations, handling chain branding etc.
- Metro Railway has also implemented innovative ideas like Track Side Walls Branding, Card Balance Checking Terminal (CBCT) Branding, Automatic Smart Card Recharge Machine (ASCRM) Branding, AFC-PC Gates and Flap Branding, installation of food kiosks, Smart Card and Token Branding, installing digital display screens inside rakes for providing infotainment to commuters etc. Such initiatives have helped to increase Metro Railways Non-Fare Revenue to a great extent.
- With such concerted efforts, Metro Railway has earned Rs. 2.72 crores in the month of April, 2024 as Non-Fare Revenue (NFR). In 2023-24 Metro had earned Rs. 1.97 crores as NFR during the same period. This is an increase of 38%.
Conclusion:
Kolkata Metro’s introduction of three new AFC-PC gates at Old Esplanade Metro Station has significantly enhanced the commuting experience, ensuring a smoother flow of passengers at one of the city’s busiest transit intersections. Alongside improving operational efficiency, these innovations have also substantially boosted Metro Railways’ non-fare revenue earnings.
Source: Kolkata Metro – Press Release | Images Credit: Kolkata Metro
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