Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in West Bengal on 22 August to open three new sections of metro in Kolkata, bringing the city’s metro network to 74km. Regular passenger service started the following day. On the west–east Green Line 2 the 2.45km gap between Sealdah and Esplanade was brought into use so the Green Line now runs through from Howrah maidan to Salt Lake Sector V IT hub. The new north–south Orange Line 6 was opened running 9.9km from Beleghata to Kavi Subhash/Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (interchange with Line 1). And metro service to the airport became available with the inauguration of the 6.8km Yellow Line from Noapara (interchange with Line 1) to Jai Hind/Bimanbandar Airport.
Kolkata’s metro expansion is expected to lead to real estate growth in the corridors covered by the new lines, catapulting residential sales to new heights in areas hitherto dotted with medium and large industries, which are declining. The metro is now offering 366 train departures/day. The Prime Minister travelled from the Yellow Line’s Jessore Rd station to the airport. Kolkata Metro ran its first train in October 1984. BEML has recently supplied 17 six-car trains and CRRC 14 eight-car trains.
An Indian-built BEML metro train in Kolkata. (Kolkata Metro)
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