Public transport in Greater Kolkata Voyage Tips and guide

Kolkata and its adjacent cities have one of the most extensive public transport networks in India. The diverse modes of public transport in the Greater Kolkata region ranges from the modern rapid transit system to the old heritage tram system.

22°34′48″N 88°21′14″E

Public transport map of Kolkata

Ferries, local trains and trams are one of the oldest modes of public transport in Kolkata. Before the construction of road bridges over the Hooghly River, ferries were heavily used to transport between the two banks of the river. The ferries are still used to cross the river, mainly for sightseeing and to avoid the traffic on the bridges.

The first passenger railway service in Eastern India began on 15 August 1854 on its first run between Howrah to Hooghly. The service gradually evolved into the present-day Kolkata Suburban Railway network. The trains were used to run in steam, but they were replaced by electric multiple units (EMUs) by the 1950s–60s.

Kolkata's tram system was opened in 1872. The trams were used to run by horses and steam, but they were replaced by electric trams by 1902. The tram network had up to 37 routes in the 1960s, but it has gradually reduced to only six routes operating as of 2024. The reasons cited include financial struggles, poor maintenance, low ridership, the addition of road flyovers, expansion of metro, slow tram speed and perceptions that the trams are outdated and occupy too much road space.

Bus services in Kolkata started in 1920, which was reorganised into 6 intracity routes with a fleet of 25 buses in 1948. The bus services were used to run by three companies, namely Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC), Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) and West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC). The three companies were merged into West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) by 2016.

The bus network around Kolkata is possibly the most exhaustive in the whole of India and it is the cheapest, though not always the most comfortable means of transport. The routes are written all over the colourful buses in Bengali and also in English. The conductors call out their destinations to everyone they are passing and all you have to do is wave at the bus anywhere and it will stop, at times causing a small queue of other cars behind it. Buses in Kolkata, Howrah and other parts of West Bengal do not have a card system. One has to buy tickets after boarding the bus. The bus tickets are simple paper tickets purchased from the bus conductor.

You can travel 20 km at around ₹10. The exact fare depends on the type of bus. There are both state-run and private buses that ply the city streets.

State-run buses in Kolkata are operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation^{[dead link]} (WBTC). These buses are generally painted blue and are identified by the acronym WBTC on the front windscreen and on their body. Non-air-conditioned buses fare start from ₹10 whereas air-conditioned buses fare start from ₹25. WBTC also provides some special transport services on some occasions, like Gangasagar Mela, Durga Puja, Kolkata Book Fair and so on.

West Bengal Tourism operates a pair of double-decker tourist buses from Rabindra Sadan to Jorasanko during festive seasons. These buses are identified with blue and white shades and the roofless (Bengali: হুডখোলা, huḍkholā) upper deck. The ticket costs ₹649 per head for the upper deck and ₹499 per head for the lower deck.

Private buses are run by private operators who are affiliated with bus unions. They are of three types:

• Regular buses: Coloured blue and yellow.
• Short-distance buses (SD): Coloured blue and white.
• Minibuses: Coloured red and yellow but contains fewer seats.

The bus termini in Kolkata are:

• 22.5650788.339761 Babughat Bus Terminus, ~8 Strand Rd. One of the main bus termini in Kolkata alongside Esplanade. One can find interstate buses going into Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and other cities of West Bengal.  (updated Sep 2022)
• 22.7201888.486732 Barasat Bus Terminus, Champadali.  (updated Sep 2022)
• 22.5853788.342363 Howrah Bus Terminus (W of the Howrah Bridge, N of Howrah station). Buses are available from Howrah and different parts of West Bengal.  (updated Oct 2022)
• 22.5632588.350394 Esplanade Bus Terminus (Dharmatala Bus Stand). It has bus terminals for buses from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and other parts of the country.  (updated Aug 2022)
• 22.585288.42085 International Bus Terminus, Karunamoyee, Sector-III, Bidhannagar. The Kolkata-Dhaka bus service operates from here.  (updated Oct 2022)
• 22.5850988.283776 Kolkata Central Bus Terminus (Santragachi Bus Stand) (outside Santragachi station).  (updated Oct 2022)
• 22.5653988.313027 Nabanna Bus Terminus, Andul Rd.  (updated Oct 2022)

The ferry services to cross the Hooghly River from Kolkata to Howrah is very convenient to zip across both cities. The Hooghly River offers a less crowded but slow traffic medium. There are several points (popularly called ghats and jetties) on the bank of the river from where you can board several regular routes of ferry services. Operated by the West Bengal Transport Corporation^{[dead link]} (WBTC), the ferries can be fairly large launches to small improvised motorised boats. Even if you don't get any exotic manual boat like you get in Varanasi, the river transport of Kolkata lets you go to several old spots near the bank in a hassle-free manner with an additional dash of the view of decadent riverfront of the cities.

Buy the ticket before you board the ferry and retain the ticket till after you have crossed to the other side and have shown it to the ticket checker near the exit gate or else you will be penalised!

Ferry ghat	Services	Connections	Other information
Ahiritola Ghat	Bagbazar–Howrah Sovabazar–Howrah	Sovabazar Ahiritola
Armenian Ghat	Howrah–Armenian Ghat	Burrabazar Howrah Bridge
Babughat	Babughat–Howrah Babughat–Ramkrishnapur	Babughat Eden Gardens
Bagbazar	Bagbazar–Howrah Fairlie Place–Bagbazar Uttarpara–Bagbazar	Bagbazar
Dakshineswar	Belur Math–Dakshineswar	Dakshineswar  1  Dakshineswar Dakshineswar
Fairlie Place	Fairlie Place–Bagbazar Fairlie Place–Chandpal Ghat Fairlie Place–Kuthi Ghat Fairlie Place–Metiabruz Fairlie Place–Uttarpara	Fairlie Place B.B.D. Bag
Howrah	Babughat–Howrah Bagbazar–Howrah Howrah–Armenian Ghat Howrah–Uttarpara Sovabazar–Howrah	Howrah Howrah Junction
Kuthi Ghat	Fairlie–Kuthi Ghat Kuthi Ghat–Belur
Outram Ghat		Babughat Eden Gardens
Prinsep Ghat		Prinsep Ghat Prinsep Ghat
Sovabazar	Bagbazar–Howrah Sovabazar–Howrah	Sovabazar Ahiritola

The oldest rail rapid transit system in India, the Kolkata Metro is the fastest, cleanest, most reliable and most efficient of all the transport Kolkata has to offer. Trains run every 5 minutes (rush hours) to 15 minutes (non-rush hours) from 6:55AM-10:30PM from Monday to Saturday and 9:50AM-10:00PM on Sunday. Fares range from ₹5-30.

The four-seat sections at each end of a coach are reserved for senior citizens and the physically challenged. The two middle seat sections, between the general seat sections on each side, are reserved for women. Smoking and drinking are also prohibited on the metro premises. Violating any of these incurs a penalty.

Be aware that if you wish to exit at a station during rush hours, you will have to tackle your way through in order to get out before the opposite flow of passengers pushes you back inside. Don't be afraid of using your strength to push yourself out.

As of 2025,  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4  and  6  lines are operational. Pink Line  5  is proposed.

As of 2026, there are 58 metro stations, of which two are metro junctions: 22.56444488.3516671 Esplanade  1  2  and 22.63972288.3938892 Noapara  1  4  . Kavi Subhash  1  6  used to be another metro junction till July 2025 when it was closed and later demolished due to cracks at the station's columns.

Name	Connections		Other information
	Metro/Suburban	Bus/Tram
Dakshineswar	Dakshineswar  Chord Link	Dakshineswar
Baranagar	Baranagar Road  Chord Link	Dunlop
Noapara	Noapara  4
Dum Dum	Dum Dum Junction  Chord Link  Sealdah
Belgachia		Belgachia
Shyambazar		Shyambazar
Sovabazar Sutanuti		Sovabazar
Girish Park		Girish Park
Mahatma Gandhi Road		Mahajati Sadan
Central		Central Avenue
Chandni Chowk		Chandni Chowk
Esplanade	Esplanade  2	Esplanade
Park Street		Park Street
Maidan		Maidan
Rabindra Sadan		Rabindra Sadan
Netaji Bhavan		Netaji Bhawan
Jatin Das Park		Jatin Daas Park
Kalighat		Rashbehari Crossing
Rabindra Sarobar	Tollygunge  Circular  Sealdah South	Rabindra Sarobar  Charu Market
Mahanayak Uttam Kumar		Tollygunge
Netaji		Kudghat
Masterda Surya Sen		Bansdroni
Gitanjali
Kavi Nazrul		Garia
Shahid Khudiram		Khudiram
Kavi Subhash	Kavi Subhash  6  New Garia  Sealdah South	New Garia

Name	Connections		Other information
	Metro/Suburban	Bus/Tram
Salt Lake Sector V		Salt Lake Sector V
Salt Lake Sector V		Salt Lake Sector V
Karunamoyee		Karunamoyee
Central Park		Central Park
City Centre		City Centre
Bengal Chemical		Bengal Chemical
Salt Lake Stadium		Salt Lake Stadium
Phoolbagan		Phoolbagan
Sealdah	Sealdah  Sealdah  Sealdah South	Sealdah
Esplanade	Esplanade  1	Esplanade
Mahakaran		B.B.D. Bagh
Howrah	Howrah  Howrah  South Eastern	Howrah
Howrah Maidan		Howrah Maidan

Name	Connections		Other information
	Metro/Suburban	Bus/Tram
Joka		Joka
Thakurpukur		Thakurpukur Bazar
Sakher Bazar		Thakurpukur
Behala Chowrasta		Behala Chowrasta
Behala Bazar		Behala Tram Depot
Taratala		Ajanta Cinema
Majerhat	Majerhat  Circular  Sealdah South	Majerhat

Name	Connections		Other information
	Metro/Suburban	Bus/Tram
Noapara	Noapara  4
Dum Dum Cantonment	Dum Dum Cantonment  Sealdah	Dumdum Cantonment
Jessore Road
Jai Hind		Airport

Name	Connections		Other information
	Metro/Suburban	Bus/Tram
Beleghata		Metropolitan
Barun Sengupta		Science City
Ritwik Ghatak
VIP Bazar		VIP Bazar
Hemanta Mukhopadhyay		Ruby
Kavi Sukanta		Kalikapur
Jyotirindra Nandi		Metro Cash & Carry
Satyajt Ray		Highland Park
Kavi Subhash	Kavi Subhash  1  New Garia  Sealdah South	New Garia

Greater Kolkata is part of both the Eastern Railway (ER) and the South Eastern Railway (SER) zone. The region is served by both passenger and suburban railway services. The Kolkata Suburban Railway, commonly referred to as "local trains", has the largest suburban railway network in India. The suburban trains are identified by its white-pink livery, and depending on the route, such trains can be extremely crowded. It is less expensive to travel around by train as compared to private taxis.

There are five lines under the suburban railway network, including the Chord Link Line, Circular Railway, Eastern Line, Sealdah South and the South Eastern Line.

The Kolkata Circular Railway  Circular  is a railway loop line around Kolkata, which begins and terminates at Dum Dum Junction railway station. The line mostly runs along the Hooghly River and through the city centre. The Circular Railway offers direct interchange points with the North–South Metro at Dum Dum and Tollygunge railway stations, while connecting multiple tourist places and ghats, for example Prinsep Ghat and the Eden Gardens. It provides a scenic view for daily commuters and visitors.

From Dum Dum Junction to Tala, the line is double-tracked, while from Tala to Majerhat, the line is single-tracked. Running by the side of the Hooghly River from Tala to Majerhat, it joins and runs parallel to the Sealdah South tracks after Majerhat and elevates at Park Circus in order to bypass Sealdah (which is a terminal station). After bypassing Sealdah, it rejoins the mainline at Bidhannagar Road and again terminating at Dum Dum Junction.

Station name	Station code	Location	Connections	Other information
Ballygunge	BLN	South Kolkata	Ballygunge Station Ballygunge Station
B.B.D Bag	BBDB	Esplanade	Fairlie Place Fairlie Place Ghat
Dum Dum Junction	DDJ	Dum Dum	Dum Dum Station  1  Dum Dum
Eden Gardens	EDG	Maidan	Babughat Babughat Outram Ghat
Kolkata	KOAA	North Kolkata	Kolkata Station
Majerhat	MJT	Southwest Kolkata
Prinsep Ghat	PPGT	Maidan	Prinsep Ghat Prinsep Ghat
Tala	TALA	North Kolkata
Tollygunge	TLG	South Kolkata	Bhabani Cinema Rabindra Sarobar Charu Market  1  Rabindra Sarobar

Kolkata has the only tram service in all of India and the oldest surviving electric tram network in Asia. Though decommissioned in some parts of the city, electric trams are still one of the means of travelling between a few places within the city. They move slowly on the laid tracks in traffic-jammed streets, but they are environmentally friendly (no emissions on the street, only at the source of energy generation). The trams were operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) until 2016, when the company merged into the West Bengal Transport Corporation^{[dead link]} (WBTC).

The tram network had up to 37 routes in the 1960s, but it has gradually reduced to only two routes operating as of 2025:

• 5: Esplanade–Shyambazar
• 25: Esplanade–Gariahat

There have been plans by the company to shut down the entire tram system, but an organisation of nostalgic tram users, namely the Calcutta Tram Users Association (CTUA), has constantly protested such plans. So, stay up-to-date on whether tram services are active or not, and consider alternative transport options.

Water-logging, caused by heavy rains during the summer monsoon, often interrupt transport networks. Keep yourself updated with the latest weather news before venturing out to use public transport.