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KOLKATA METRO EXTENDS TOWARD A NEW ERA OF CONNECTIVITY
Kolkata Date: 05.03.2024
Metro Railway Kolkata is the first Metro system in India, which started its magical journey on 24 October 1984. Since then Metro Railway has become synonymous with Kolkata’s aspirations, hope, enthusiasm, and never-ending endeavour to achieve glory. Lakhs of commuters rely on the Metro every day to reach their destinations quickly and comfortably. Kolkata Metro has started to expand its wings very fast in order to reach every corner of Kolkata as well as suburban areas. A total of 11.45 Kms (5.4 Km of Orange Line, 4.8 Km of Green Line, and 1.25 Km of Purple Line) is being added to the existing Kolkata Metro network which is a momentous occasion.
Orange Line
One new Metro Corridor from Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay stretch of Orange Line is being inaugurated much to the delight of the citizen of West Bengal. This 5.4-km stretch has been built at a cost of Rs.1,435 crores. The five stations on this stretch have been named after luminaries like Film maestro Satyajit Ray, writer Jyotirindra Nandi, Poet Sukanta Bhattacharya and Subhash Mukhopadhyay and famous singer Hemanta Mukhopadhyay. This is our endeavour to pay our respect to the rich cultural heritage of West Bengal.
Benefits
- This Metro Corridor will decongest the busy Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and reduce travel time between Kavi Subhash and Rabi Thakur More.
- People of Mukundupur, Ajoy Nagar, and Purbalok as well as far-flung areas of South 24 Parganas like Canning, Diamond Harbour, and Namkhana will be benefited as they will be able to avail of Metro services from Kavi Subhash Metro station after getting down at New Garia station of Eastern Railway.
- Patients, expectant mothers, and their relatives will be able to reach different famous hospitals of the medical hub on EM Bypass.
- Thousands of Passport applicants can reach the Regional Passport Centre easily by getting down at Hemanta Mukhopadhyay station.
- Commuters coming from places like Howrah, Hooghly, and North 24 Parganas of Blue Line will be able to avail of Metro services of Orange Line with the same Tokens and Smart Cards by just interchanging at Kavi Subhash station with the help of the Integrated Ticketing System.
The Metro project from New Garia (Kavi Subhash) – Airport (Biman Bandar) was sanctioned in 2010-11 as an elevated corridor at a cost of Rs. 3952 Cr. and the revised sanctioned cost is Rs. 8964 Cr.
Metro work between New Garia and to Airport is under construction and the Main work in the 5.4 km section from New Garia to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay has been completed with CRS authorisation on 07.02.23 by the One Train only system. CRS Authorisation for EI has also been received on 07.02.24 and Hon’ble PM is inaugurating the section on 06.03.24.
Green Line
Howrah and Kolkata are two centuries-old cities in West Bengal. These two cities are going to be connected by the river Hooghly. It is an engineering marvel as for the first time in our country, Metro is going to ply under any mighty river. The 4.8-km stretch of East-West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade has been built at a cost of Rs 4,965 crores and it will have the deepest Metro station in India at Howrah (30 meters deep).
9.3 Km of the corridor is presently operational with the recent opening of the 2.33 km Metro corridor from Sealdah Railway Station to Phoolbagan on 14-07-22. 4.80 km truncated section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade is getting inaugurated by Hon’ble PM on 06.03.24.
The travel time between Sealdah to Salt Lake has now been reduced to 20 min against more than an hour by road.
The entire East-West Corridor between Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector-V is expected to be operational very soon, thus connecting Sealdah and Howrah Railway stations, which are the busiest Railway stations in India and will provide an interchange point at Esplanade with the North-South Corridor.
E-W corridor has the distinction of being the very first under River transportation tunnel in India, below the mighty Hooghly River, being 520 meters long & 13 meters below the river bed, and one of the deepest metro stations at Howrah, which is 30 meters deep below ground.
Benefits
- This corridor once fully commissioned will connect two major Railway terminus at Howrah and Sealdah and also connect existing North-South Metro and Joka-Esplanade Corridor at Esplanade station.
- It will also solve the perennial traffic congestion and improve air quality by
reducing carbon footprint. - People coming from distant places of Hooghly, Howrah, Midnapore as well as other states will be immensely benefitted by availing Metro services after getting down at Howrah station of Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway.
Purple Line
Commercial services on the Joka- Taratala stretch of the Purple Line have already started. Now this service is going to be extended up to Majerhat. This 1.25 km extension of the Purple Line from Taratala to Majerhat has been executed at a cost of Rs . 525 crores.
Metro work between Joka to Esplanade is under construction and a 6.5 km section from Joka to Taratala has been opened by Hon’ble PM on 30.12.2022 with One train only system.
1.25 Km section from Taratala to Majerhat is getting inaugurated by Hon’ble PM on 06.03.24
An expenditure of Rs. 3575 Cr has been incurred in the project up to Feb’24, out of which 635 Cr has been incurred for the State of the Art Maintenance Depot at Joka and the rest for the Viaduct and Stations for completion of the Joka – Taratala section.
Benefits
- Establishing connectivity with EMU services of the Sealdah-Budge Budge section and Circular Railway of Eastern Railway at Majerhat Station.
- Commuters of South Kolkata residing away from the main city, who come to the city daily for their livelihood will be immensely benefitted.
- It will also help to decongest the traffic movement on the busy Diamond Harbour Road connecting Kolkata with the furthest areas of South 24 Parganas.
