Kolkata’s Durga Puja transport plan for 2026 will add all-night metro services on key corridors, expanded suburban operations and special long-distance trains as millions of visitors are expected to travel across the city and its surrounding districts during the festival period.
Metro Railway Kolkata will run continuous services on the Blue and Green lines during Maha Saptami, Maha Astami and Maha Navami, from October 17 to 20. The Blue Line will operate from 1 pm until around 4 am the following morning, while the Green Line will run from 1.30 pm until about 3.59 am. The services are intended to support late-night travel between major pandal areas in north and south Kolkata, as well as between Salt Lake, Sealdah and Howrah Maidan.
On the Blue Line, 284 services will run from 6 am to 11 pm on October 15 and 16, with trains at six-minute intervals during peak periods. During the three main festival days, services will begin in the afternoon and continue overnight. The line connects areas including Kalighat, Mudiali, Gariahat, Kumartuli, Ahiritola and College Square through major interchange points.
The Green Line will operate 240 services from 6 am to 11 pm on October 15 and 16. During the overnight festival schedule, 192 services will run at peak intervals of eight minutes. On Vijaya Dashami, October 21, the line will operate 74 services from 1.30 pm to 10.30 pm, with trains running every 15 minutes.
Other metro corridors will have more limited schedules. The Yellow Line will operate 120 services between Noapara and Jai Hind Bimanbandar on October 15 and 16, including five direct services from the airport station to Shahid Khudiram. From October 17 to 20, it will run 72 daily services between 3 pm and 10.53 pm. The Purple Line will run 38 daily services from October 17 to 21, while the Orange Line will have no services during that period after operating on October 15 and 16.
Metro officials have advised passengers to use Smart Cards or digital QR-based tickets through the AAMAR KOLKATA METRO app to avoid queues at ticket counters. They have also asked commuters not to rush, block train doors or overcrowd coaches, and to follow instructions from station staff during the high-volume festival period.
The railway network will also add capacity. The Sealdah division will operate 51 Puja special trains, including 38 overnight services between 11 pm and 5 am from October 16 to 21, compared with 31 special trains last year. The Howrah division has announced seven long-distance special trains accounting for 174 trips, seven special EMU services covering about 70 trips and 25 pairs of passing specials totalling 402 trips.
South Eastern Railway will run 19 pairs of Puja special trains with 344 trips and has permanently augmented 30 coaches on selected regular services. Under the Sealdah division’s plan, all galloping local trains will stop at every station after 2 pm during the Puja period.
Eastern Railway is also planning selected local shuttle services between Bandel and Naihati, including late-night operations on peak Puja days and possible coordination between suburban trains and metro services. Four special local trains will operate on the Sealdah-Ranaghat-Lalgola route from October 10 to 15, while additional services are planned after Puja on routes including Sealdah-Budge Budge and Shantipur-Krishnanagar.
For crowd and passenger safety, 75 local trains have been identified for enhanced security arrangements. Sealdah, Ballygunge, Dum Dum, Sonarpur, Naihati and Ranaghat stations will have round-the-clock control-room surveillance, medical booths, passenger help desks, mobile maintenance teams, reserve locomotive crews and additional toilet facilities during the festival operations.
