Kolkata might have ATM-cum-Metro cards

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway is gearing up to introduce a Metro card that would double up as a bank ATM card.

“We are holding talks with a private bank for introducing this combo card. Apart from the technological part, the revenue-sharing model is also being discussed,” said Vishwesh Chaubey, general manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata & Chairman, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, on the sidelines of a CII Session called “Transport Infrastructure – Nerve of Future City”.

Mr Chaubey added that the card would have two chips, one for ATM transactions and the for punching through the smart gates in the metro to access platforms. “This will be beneficial for the passengers as they will not need to stand in a queue and at the same time we will not need extra booking clerks. Passengers in the Metro are increasing by leaps and bounds and with some other Metro projects expected to be operational by 2020, the passenger volume will go up over 7 lakh on a daily basis,” a senior Metro official said.

The Metro railway is also planning to introduce a service in the Metro rail stations so that passengers alighting at a particular station can have information of the various shops in that location, whether, for instance they are offering any discounts or if there is a place of interest nearby that he or she can visit.

According to Mr Chaubey, Noapara-Dakshineswar Metro, the Noapara-Airport metro will be complete by June 2019 while the East West metro and the Joka Esplanade metro will be operational by 2020.