The West Bengal Transport Department has proposed night bus services at 10 pm on key routes in Kolkata and adjoining areas to facilitate patients and their family members in accessing major hospitals, an official statement said on Saturday. The proposal seeks to add departures on selected lines where the last buses currently cease operation earlier in the evening, aiming to support late-night travel for medical appointments, emergency visits and related needs across the metropolitan area.

The proposed services will connect major transport hubs such as Howrah, Barasat, Dunlop, Ultadanga and Rajabazar with destinations including Dumdum airport, Barrackpore, Garia, Ballygunge, Kamalgazi, Mourigram and New Town. Additional 10 pm departures have been put forward on routes that at present have earlier final services, and the intention is to improve onward links to neighbourhoods and peripheral localities during late hours.

Routes identified for the night services include E-32 (Howrah station-Barrackpore), S-7 (Howrah station-Garia), S-5 (Howrah station-Garia), S-9A (Dunlop-Ballygunge), T-16 (Rajabazar-Mourigram), S-30 (Ultadanga 15 Number-Eco Space), S-24 (Howrah station-Kamalgazi) and AC-37 (Barasat-Garia). On VS-2 (Howrah station-Airport) and S-10A (Howrah station-Ballygunge) the existing last departure is already at 10 pm and the schedule will continue unchanged.

The alignments have been planned to pass through important corridors including M G Road, C R Avenue, VIP Road, B T Road, Esplanade, Park Street, Rashbehari Avenue, Gariahat and Jadavpur, as well as Sealdah, Moulali, Park Circus, EM Bypass, Ruby, New Town and Andul Road to ensure easier access to hospitals, blood banks and other emergency medical facilities during late hours. The services are proposed to be operated by different state transport undertakings with two or three trips allocated on each route to offer dependable late-night connectivity.