Kolkata: KMRC successfully completed the three-day trials on Sunday, after operating trains at speeds exceeding 80kmph to test the communication-based train control (CBTC) system for East-West Metro's Esplanade-Sealdah section, officials said. Services will resume on the Sealdah-Sector V and Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretches a little later than usual.
On Monday, the first Metro from Sector V will depart at 8.05 am instead of 7.05 am, and from Sealdah at 8.15 am instead of 6.55 am. Trains along the Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretch will start at 8 am instead of 7 am.
The delay in completing the Esplanade-Sealdah stretch was caused by a cave-in during tunnelling work in Bowbazar in Sept 2019, when the tunnel borer struck an aquifer. Smaller reruns of the subsidence in 2022 and 2024 further delayed the Esplanade-Sealdah section's opening.