Kolkata: The entire East-West Metro (Green Line 1 and 2) would be suspended for eight days in two phases from Feb 13—four days in each stint—for signal testing, announced Metro Railway on Tuesday.
The carrier issued a statement, saying both the functional sections of East-West Metro—the 9.2km Sealdah-Sector V (Green Line 1) stretch and 4.8km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan (Green Line 2) stretch—would be shut in two spells "from Feb 13 to 16 and from Feb 20 to 23 (four days each, including Saturdays and Sundays)" to implement the signalling system of the upcoming 2.5km stretch between the Esplanade and Sealdah stations. Metro Railway and KMRC, the implementing agency of the 16.6 km East-West Metro corridor, are trying to commission the last 2.5-km stretch, which passes under the Bowbazar cave-in zone, at the earliest.
TOI reported on Jan 23 that East-West Metro services would be shut for eight days to facilitate work, essential for the route's full 16.6 km run. In another earlier report on Jan 9, TOI wrote that Metro Railway, which runs ferries around 1 lakh passengers daily on the Green Line 1 and 2, was in a dilemma over KMRC's request for a 45-day closure of the entire Green Line.
The closure was needed for an integrated signal and telecommunication (ST) software and hardware installation along the entire 16.6 km corridor, said an official. Metro has now opted to launch the new section on the "restricted manual mode", which wouldn't require six weeks of trials, he added.
East-West Metro is equipped with the superior, anti-collision communication-based train control, which allows trains to run every 90 minutes. Since the line now runs in two disjointed sections, there are separate CBTC systems for the two functional stretches. To equip the incomplete section with CBTC, software in the entire corridor will need to be upgraded. "Trials and service suspension of at least 30 days is needed," an official said. To avoid the prolonged closure, he said, Metro Railway decided to run the new section on "restricted manual mode", bringing down the speed limit from 80kmph to 25 kmph. Officials said some basic CBTC testing would also be carried out.