Metro completes first phase of replacement in Blue Line
The Statesman | 29 July 2025
The city Metro achieved a milestone last Saturday with the completion of the phase of replacement of the 38-year-old steel third rail with aluminium in the Blue Line.
The change is anticipated to reduce 84 per cent energy loss amounting to Rs 1 crore every per km of route.
In Phase-I, this replacement has been done from Shyambazar to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar down line and Shyambazar to Park Street Up line. On Saturday night, the carrier replaced the steel third rail in the Main Line at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station area. The work was completed before commercial service on Sunday Morning. As learnt, the main challenge of the Main line was to change the rail by maintaining alignment, height and distance perfectly and completing the work within non-commercial hours. Earlier replacement work of Steel third rail by highly conductive Aluminum third rail at Girish Park and Maidan siding were completed respectively on 7 September and 15 September.
After the replacement work, one battery operated locomotive was run multiple times to ensure smooth third rail current collector movement over installed third rail. With experience gathered at Girish Park Y-siding, Maidan Y-siding and Central Mainline, the replacement of the main line was completed.
In the second phase, the Metro authorities have planned replacement work from Park Street to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar up line and Shyambazar to Dum Dum UP and down line.
According to the city Metro office, the work of Phase- II is already under execution and is expected to be completed before December 2025. In Phase-III, replacement has been planned between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar to Kavi Subhas stations. Phase- III work has already been sanctioned by the Railway Board.
Notably, the work of replacement of the steel third rail was approved by the Railway Board in 2023-24 and the work was awarded to a German company in December 2023. The material of first shipment was received in Kolkata Port in July 2024. The Kolkata Metro Railway is said to have planned the introduction of a 35-km Aluminum third rail in 2024-2026. The replacement works with highly conductive Aluminum third rail started a few months back at Girish Park Y-siding and Maidan station and Y-siding. The main component which is a highly conductive Aluminum third rail was dispatched through sea transport from Hamburg port of Germany.