Finally, there is cheer and huge relief amongst the Metro riders. They are especially thrilled to get this pre-Puja gift. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate three Metro stretches on 22 August during his upcoming visit to West Bengal.
The anticipation that was triggered with the visit of the chairman railway board earlier this week, was confirmed today with the letter of the railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw. In the letter addressed to the Union minister of state for education, Sukanta Majumdar, the railway minister informed about the PM’s programme of inaugurating three Metro stretches. The sections that are to see a green light on the day include the much-awaited Esplanade-Sealdah stretch of East-West Metro Corridor, Beleghata-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and Noapara-Jai Hind Metro stations. The subway connecting Howrah railway station to the Howrah metro station will also happen on the day. The inaugural ceremony is to be a gala event at Jessore Road Metro station. While preparations for the inaugural ceremony are going on in full swing, the date of commencement of the commercial services in these sections is yet to be announced by the Metro railway authorities.
Along with the commercial opening of three new stretches, Kolkata Metro Railway has overcome another hurdle in the Yellow Line at Barasat. The project is planned to have 14 stations spanning over 22 km between Noapara and Barasat. The Metro network in this stretch is to be elevated until Jessore Road from Noapara and then go underground towards Barasat station. It will have an interchange at the Kolkata Airport with Orange Line. The Kolkata Metro Railway is said to have sought permission to take out soil from nine different locations in Barasat to which the local municipality authorities have agreed to give a nod soon.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Metro Railway authorities have decided to run 182 services on the Blue Line tomorrow instead of 262 daily services. Likewise, the Green Line I will have 92 services instead of 108 and 124 services in Green Line-2, instead of 134 daily services. The Purple Line is to have normal services on Independence Day.
As announced by the city Metro office, the timings of the first and the last train and special night service in the Blue Line have been kept unchanged.