Esplanade station in focus as Metro seeks to guard Blue Line against new tremors
Times of India | 28 August 2025
Kolkata: Metro Railway is planning to build an underground subway to connect the old Blue Line Esplanade station with the new one, for seamless movement of passengers using the interchange.
Consultants will be hired to expand the Blue Line's Esplanade station, which is experiencing a surge in passenger traffic following the full run of the East-West Metro or the Green Line. "We need to smoothen the flow of passengers at the Blue Line's Esplanade station. For this, we are going to hire consultants who will find out if there is a way to expand the passenger interchange at Esplanade," Metro Railway general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy said on Wednesday, the third day of the combined operations of the city's three new lines.
"Footfall in the old Esplanade station will multiply when the Purple Line reaches here, making it a three-tier hub. We are trying to prepare a comprehensive plan for the station that was perhaps not designed to accommodate such a huge rush when it started operations 41 years ago," Reddy said, adding, "We need the consultants to study whether an underground subway can be built next to the existing one linking the Blue and Green lines. The subway will help people from both corridors switch the lines, reach the respective platforms, and lead to faster dispersal of crowds.
" | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataWhen asked if there was space for an additional underground tunnel below the Blue Line (spanning 31 km from Dakshineswar to Sector V, with Esplanade as its most crucial station), adjacent to the Green Line or East-West Metro corridor, and with the Purple Line (Joka-Esplanade corridor) construction about to start, Reddy nodded: "Yes, there is space for another tunnel. The consultants will figure out the precise location and design.
"The Esplanade station of the Blue Line, part of the North-South corridor, has been crowded due to its role as a vital interchange with the Green Line. Passenger numbers surged after the Green Line became fully operational on Saturday.
The Green Line connects key locations, including the busy Howrah and Sealdah railway stations, with numerous passengers alighting at Esplanade station. The authorities are constrained by the lack of space to add more ticket counters, although Metro Railway plans to procure extra ticket-vending machines for the Blue Line Esplanade station. Approximately 60 security guards have been deployed by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to manage the overwhelming crowds. Metro Railway has added 22 services to the Blue Line and reduced train intervals from six to five minutes during peak hours. However, the increased passenger volume, particularly commuters using the Green Line to access destinations such as Howrah station (via the Hooghly River), Salt Lake, or the airport, has overwhelmed the existing infrastructure, resulting in overcrowded platforms and concourses.
Metro officials are urgently seeking crowd management solutions for the North-South Esplanade station, which was not designed to function as an interchange for two other metro lines. The Blue Line's Central station on CR Avenue was.