With the anticipated increase in footfall and the demand arising with the opening of Sealdah Metro station, about 200 staff will be recruited for the East-West corridor.
The newly-inaugurated Metro stretch is all set to welcome commuters from tomorrow. With the opening of the 2.33-km stretch for commercial operations, the footfall of the East-West Metro, also known as the Green Line, is expected to rise by manifolds.
As a large number of commuters travel between Sealdah to Sector V IT hub, the authorities are expecting the passenger count to shoot up to around 35,000. The number is expected to rise further in future. However, to meet the huge demand, sufficient manpower would be required. Given the situation, additional manpower is being recruited in the East-West Metro section. According to sources, about 200 staff will be inducted in various departments of the Green Line. Of the total, around 120 staff will be hired in the traffic department alone.
The Green Line, which was operating around 48 services so far, is said to be running with about 21 motormen working in various shifts. From tomorrow, the number of services is to more than double and the authorities have announced running 100 services from Monday to Saturdays in this part of the city Metro. To meet the required manpower, few staff from the existing North-South Metro are also said to have been inducted in the East-West corridor. Even the shifts of some of the staff, including motormen, are likely to increase with the rise in passenger count due to the opening of Sealdah-Phoolbagan Metro.