Kolkata Metro will run late-night services on the Blue and Green lines during Durga Puja, with trains operating until the early hours from Saptami to Navami to manage festival travel. This year, Saptami falls on two days, October 17 and 18, so overnight services will run on four days instead of the usual three.
Metro Railway announced the Puja schedule on Thursday. On the Blue Line, services on Panchami and Sashthi, October 15 and 16, will operate from 6am to 11pm, with 284 trains scheduled each day. The peak-hour frequency will be six minutes.
From Saptami to Navami, October 17 to 20, the Blue Line will run 248 trains from 1pm until 4am the following day. Trains during peak hours will operate at six-minute intervals. On Dashami, October 21, the line will run 140 services between 1pm and 10.30pm, with an eight-minute frequency during peak periods.
The Green Line will operate 240 services each day on Panchami and Sashthi, between 6am and 11pm, with trains arriving every six minutes during peak hours. From Saptami to Navami, services will run from 1.30pm until 3.59am the next day, with 192 trains scheduled each day and an eight-minute peak-hour frequency.
On Dashami, the Green Line will run 74 trains between 1.30pm and 10.30pm. The interval between trains will be 15 minutes. The extended hours on both corridors are intended to support the large movement of visitors during the busiest Puja days, when pandal-hopping and evening outings continue well beyond normal operating hours.
Metro Railway has also announced separate service schedules for other corridors during the festival period. One corridor will operate 120 services daily from 7.18am to 9.20pm on Panchami and Sashthi, followed by 72 services from 3pm to 10.53pm from Saptami to Navami and 62 services from 3pm to 9.38pm on Dashami. The interval on that corridor will be 12 minutes.
Another corridor will run 84 trains from 6.40am to 9.26pm on Panchami and Sashthi, with a peak-hour frequency of 21 minutes. From Saptami to Dashami, it will operate 38 services daily between 3pm and 10.55pm, at intervals of 25 minutes. A further schedule provides 62 services from 7.40am to 8.45pm on Panchami and Sashthi, also at a 25-minute frequency.
The Orange Line will remain closed to commercial services from Saptami to Dashami. Commuters planning late-night travel during the main Puja days will therefore need to check the operating corridor and last-train timings before beginning their journey. Metro Railway’s extended schedule places the Blue and Green lines at the centre of the city’s public transport arrangements during the festival, when demand is expected to remain high into the night.
