Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (March 6) inaugurated three sections of the Kolkata Metro Railway, including the groundbreaking Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch, featuring India’s first underwater transportation tunnel. According to the Metro Railway authorities, the commercial operations on this stretch is slated to start within the next seven to 10 days.
“Commercial services will commence in all the three sections within seven to 10 days,” Metro Railway spokesperson Kaushik Mitra said. Mitra also said that the commercial services for all three inaugurated sections, including Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and Taratala-Majerhat, will kick off within the specified timeframe.
Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section
The highlighted Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section, part of the East-West Metro corridor, houses the pioneering transportation tunnel beneath the River Hooghly, connecting Kolkata and Howrah.
Covering a distance of 4.8 km between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade, it marks the second operational section of the East-West Metro corridor, linking Howrah Maidan to the Salt Lake Sector V IT hub.
Kolkata Metro’s East-West alignment
The only remaining stretch to be completed is the Esplanade-Sealdah segment of the East-West alignment. Metro Railway’s General Manager, P Uday Kumar Reddy, has set a target of June-July 2024 for the initiation of commercial operations across the entire West alignment.
The completion of the project faced setbacks due to a burst aquifer in Bowbazar, central Kolkata, in August 2019, resulting in ground subsidence and building collapses. Further water leakage incidents occurred at the same site in 2022 during tunneling and construction work.
Presently, the Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah stretch of the East-West Metro corridor is operational. Additionally, Metro services for the 6.5 km Joka to Taratala segment of the Joka-Esplanade project are already operational, with further extension up to Majerhat expected soon.
The Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section, covering 5.4 km of the 30-km long Kavi Subhash-Airport metro line, is also set to commence commercial operations in the first phase.