Kolkata: East-West Metro may run up to Sealdah by next month – Times of India

KOLKATA: East-West Metro trains may roll till Sealdah station next month. The state government is keen to ensure that services of the city’s Line 2 are extended by another 2km from Phoolbagan ahead of the next fiscal. It has also given its nod for a station near Victoria Memorial as part Line 3, the Joka-Esplanade corridor.
State transport minister Firhad Hakim on Wednesday convened a meeting with various agencies to facilitate Kolkata’s Metro projects. The minister assured that the state would offer full cooperation for East-West Metro’s Sealdah extension, which has a fire clearance pending with the state fire services department. Without the clearance, Metro Railway can’t invite the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to inspect the new section. East-West Metro now runs a truncated 6.9km between Sector V and Phoolbagan and can extend operations till Sealdah only after the CRS, the autonomous body that approves any new Metro project in India, gives a go-ahead. Commuters can zip 10km in 20 minutes once this seventh station stop is added to the network.

The 16km East-West Metro, veering to connect terminal Howrah Maidan below the Hooghly in December, received its highest allocation – Rs 1,100 crore – in this year’s Budget.
Another crucial decision that was passed at Wednesday’s meeting is related to Kolkata’s Line 3, the 15km Joka-Esplanade Metro, which was allowed to have a halt at the Victoria Memorial. At another meeting tabled by chief secretary H K Dwivedi on October 28, implementing agency Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) was asked to skip the station “in the interest of Metro as well as Victoria Memorial.” On Wednesday, Hakim said the state had no objection to the Victoria Memorial station when RVNL officials told him that bids must be invited for the for the 5.6km Mominpore-Esplanade underground section. For this, the alignment must be finalized once and for all. Representatives from Army’s Eastern Command headquarters were also present at the meeting.
Five underground stations – Mominpore, Kidderpore, Victoria Memorial, Park Street and Esplanade – will come up along this stretch. The Army is the custodian of most of this land. Officials said the state government’s nod to Victoria station comes in the wake of Calcutta high court clearing the underground section. The matter was disposed of as the Army told the division bench that it had no objection to tunnelling below Maidan for laying of the tracks. The high court was hearing a matter relating to a 2005 PIL. RVNL has been praying before the court that the Metro construction would be well beyond 200 metres of Victoria’s boundary.
RVNL was also told to complete formalities with Kolkata Police to relocate Bidhan Market (also called Maidan Market) and organize shifting of the Fountain of Joy. Among the other issues discussed was the hurdle for the New Garia-Airport corridor at Laskarhat on EM Bypass. Kolkata Police needs to allow traffic diversion to facilitate construction of pier 166 for the Metro link. RVNL is currently trying to fill a 125m viaduct gap at the stretch.