Metro Railway (Kolkata), as part of Indian Railways has been playing a proactive role to make this initiative successful and various innovative steps have been adopted to increase its revenue which is in general totally dependent on passenger earnings.
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Indian Railways is encouraging all Zonal Railways to take various initiatives to increase its Non-Fare Revenue in order to boost earnings apart from the traditional sources of income.
As part of that endeavour, 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.
- With such concerted efforts Metro Railway has earned Rs. 19.57 crores during 1st April, 2023 to 30th September, 2023 as Non Fare Revenue (NFR).
- In 2022-23 Metro had earned Rs.14.58 crores as NFR during the same period (i.e. April,2022 to September,2022). This is an increase of 34.22%.
In another unique initiative, 204 Litter Bins at 34 stations of North-South and East-West Corridors have been branded so far. Handle chains of different Medha rakes are also being branded.
Apart from this, Kolkata Metro 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 Railway’s Non-Fare Revenue to a great extent.
About Kolkata Metro:
Metro Railway, Kolkata is the first underground metro in India. It extends from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash Metro station near Garia, on the busy North-South axis of Kolkata over a length of 31.365 Kms. with 26 Stations & 15.70 Kms. of underground section.
Based on traffic studies, the Dum Dum – Tollygunge corridor was first selected for implementation and work started on 29th December, 1972. The first metro line in India was accomplished on 24th October 1984, a stretch of about 3.4 km between Esplanade and Bhowanipur (Netaji Bhavan), thrown open for the Public.
The Metro Railway, Kolkata was constructed progressively from 1972 to 2021. In Phase-I, a length of 16.45 Kms from Dum Dum to Tollygunge (Mahanayak Uttam Kumar) accomplished in 1995 and in Phase-II a length of 5.834 Kms from Mahanayak Uttam Kumar to Kavi Nazrul Metro station is accomplished in August, 2009.
In October 2010, Metro services further extended up to Kavi Subhash, a length of 2.851 Kms. It further extended Dum Dum to Noapara, a length of 2.091 Kms, on 10th July 2013. The last leg was opened on 23rd February 2021 for commercial operation from Noapara to Dakshineswar (4.139 Kms).
It extended in the East-West axis from Salt Lake Sector-V to Salt Lake Stadium, covering a length of 5.3 kms with 6 stations on 13th February 2020 and further extended from Salt Lake Stadium to Phoolbagan on 4th October 2020 (1.67 kms). It is further extended from Phoolbagan to Sealdah (2.33 kms) on 11th July 2022.
Source: Kolkata Metro- Press Release | Image Credit (representational): Kolkata Metro
