Metro to charge extra for oversized luggage
"We don't want to ruin anybody's journey. People headed to catch a flight usually don't carry multiple suitcases or bags if they choose to travel on the metro to the airport. No one will be stopped in any of the stations across the three corridors (Blue, Green, and Yellow Lines) if they are riding to or from the airport metro station. The idea is to make their journeys seamless," a senior official of Metro, which runs the city's rapid transit network, told TOI, adding that if someone has multiple bags or oversized baggage, he or she will be charged a fee.
Officials explained that the eight-car rakes used in Kolkata Metro don't have dedicated storage space like those operating in underground transit systems or semi-speed corridors abroad. The luggage fee will be charged to dissuade people from trooping in with extra and oversized suitcases, they said.
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Two days ago, a Bengaluru commuter raised questions over Namma Metro's policy of charging him for oversized luggage, claiming he was asked to pay Rs 30 for carrying a suitcase during his ride.
The post, shared on X, sparked a wider discussion on whether the fee is justified.
Metro Railway officials said passengers carrying one or two suitcases of the usual sizes (around 18 by 24 inches) would be given a pass after scanning. Fees would be clamped only on those carrying more. "We are still working on the nitty-gritty of charges, based on the number and sizes of the luggage being carried. We shall have to watch commuter behaviour for a few days before fixing the rules," a senior Metro official said.
Metro Railway slackened its luggage rules last year when East-West Metro's Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section was opened. Metro Railway general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy had then said that the rules were being changed for the sake of passengers alighting from trains at Howrah station.
Most domestic airlines allow flyers to carry suitcases up to 15 kg as checked-in luggage and up to 7 kg as cabin baggage. Trains, too, have a luggage weight limit, but it's seldom enforced.
Earlier, security personnel at metro stations would bar passengers from carrying suitcases on trains. The "prohibition" has been gradually lifted, even though there was no official announcement.
With the airport-metro launch, Kolkata will join Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, and Chennai, where domestic flyers may avoid expensive cabs to travel to the airport. They can zip between Esplanade and Airport stations in 30 minutes for just Rs 50. Tickets from the airport metro station to those between Chandni Chowk and Tollygunge will cost Rs 40, and to those between Kudghat and Sahid Khudiram stations, Rs 45.
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