123 Kolkata: Trial runs for Kolkata's first airport-metro link may begin on Monday, Dec 16, sources said. Metro Railway, which is implementing the city's Yellow line, including the first 7 km phase between Noapara and Jai Hind (airport) stations, is chasing a March 2025 deadline to commission the stretch.
Before the official trials start on Monday, some pre-trial runs may be conducted on Saturday to ensure that the formal launch of the train run on Monday is glitch-free. "We might take the rake from Noapara and bring it to the airport or Jai Hind metro station to check that the tracks are okay. We don't want hiccups during the official trial run on Monday," an engineer involved in the construction of the Yellow line said. The Yellow line will eventually link 16 km from Noapara to Barasat.
The trials will be conducted mainly along the 4 km Dum Dum Cantonment and Jai Hind metro stations. The 3 km Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment already has the mandatory approval for revenue operations from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). But instead of launching the section, Metro Railway decided to extend Phase I by another 4 km to the airport.
P Uday Kumar Reddy, Metro Railway GM, has been taking regular progress reports of the Noapara-airport section, and the stations dotting it, officials said. Reddy conducted a maiden trolley run between Dum Dum Cantonment and Jai Hind stations on Oct 21. On Nov 26, he visited the Jai Hind airport site and took stock of the progress. "Officials apprised the GM of the latest status of the Yellow line's civil, electrical, and signal and telecommunications work," a metro spokesperson said, adding, "Devinder Kumar, chief engineer, construction, Metro Railway, informed that everything would be ready by the time the trials start in Dec."
The stretch includes Noapara, which is already functional as the third last station of the New Garia-Dakshineswar or the North-South corridor. It is also the North-South line's depot. The other stations are the overhead Dum Dum Cantonment and the underground Jessore Road and Jai Hind (airport) stations.
Once the airport is linked to the metro, commuters can zip through three metro lines to the airport, via the Noapara interchange. The Blue (New Garia-Dakshineswar) with the East-West Metro or Green line's Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section's interchange at Esplanade will enable people from the southern and northern fringes to reach the airport. EM Bypass residents can use the Orange (Ruby-New Garia) line till New Garia, then to Noapara and finally to the airport. Those flying down to Kolkata can thus reach various city locations and the suburbia by metro.
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