Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor remained fully suspended for two days starting today (March 8) and March 9, to facilitate testing of the Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system, an official statement confirmed on Saturday.
This marks the third such service suspension in the past month, following earlier shutdowns from February 13-16 and February 20-23. The testing aims to assess the efficiency of the advanced signaling and communication system along the Howrah Maidan-Salt Lake Sector V stretch.
While no trains will operate during these two days, partial disruptions are likely to extend beyond the weekend. On March 10, the first train from Sector 5 will depart at 8:05 am instead of 7:05 am, and the first train from Sealdah will leave at 6:55 am. Meanwhile, services between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan will begin at 8 am instead of 7 am.
The CBTC system testing follows the completion of tunneling between Esplanade and Sealdah, a key step toward launching full operations on the 16.6-km East-West corridor later this year. Currently, two disconnected sections are operational — Sector 5 to Sealdah and Esplanade to Howrah Maidan.
Delays in completing the Esplanade-Sealdah section stem from a series of incidents at Bowbazar, where tunnel boring machines struck an aquifer in September 2019, causing cave-ins. Similar setbacks in later years have further postponed the opening of the 2.5-km stretch.