When the rake MR 614 embarked on its journey of first commercial run from the newly-inaugurated Esplanade Metro station this morning, it carried jubilant commuters, filled with excitement of seeing their dream of enjoying a hassle-free ride between the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah come true.

Several citizens, including elderly men, school children, homemakers with their kids, queued in front of the ticket counters at Howrah Maidan and Esplanade stations this morning. At 7am, when the rakes moved out of the platforms, the riders hooted, shouted slogans with excitement. Most of them were excited and eager to experience what a ride in the underwater stretch looked like.

As the train approached the blue light of the underwater stretch, the excitement peaked with loud cheers from commuters. Not willing to give it a miss, the cheerful crowd took selfies and clicked pictures on their mobile to capture the moment.

Many of them pointed out that the commercial services brought much relief to them by not only saving money but even time. “My office is at Howrah Maidan and I live in Dakshineswar. Availing a Metro now would save at least half an hour of the journey time. As an office-goer, there could be no bigger comfort that the starting of the commercial services would allow me a hassle-free commute from Esplanade to Howrah at Rs 10,” said Tanmay Kumar Saha, a rider working in the agriculture department, who started from his house at Dakshineswar at 5.30am today to enjoy the first ride.

Sangita Vyas, another commuter on board, took a leave from her work this morning to witness the first commercial ride in the underwater stretch. According to the school teacher, lives with her husband and family at Mallick Phatak in Howrah. Being a working woman, she would cherish the time saved during the journey. “As women, we juggle with so many things. So, time matters a lot to us. I go to Hazra for my rehearsals daily. This Metro service would save a lot of time. Now, I can use that energy on creativity, my teaching career or even household works,” claimed the theatre artist.

A similar enthusiasm was seen in the Orange Line this morning that also saw the commencement of commercial services for the first time. BEML rakes MR-415 left Kavi Subhash station and MR-416 left Hemanta Mukhopadhyay station with passengers at 9am and both the trains reached their destinations at 9.11 am. At Majerhat-Joka stretch, which also saw the starting of commercial services today, the first commercial rake, MR-417 left Joka at 8.30am and reached Majerhat at 8.47am with an enthusiastic crowd of commuters.