| Kolkata Metro কলকাতা মেট্রো |
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|---|---|
| Info | |
| Locale | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Transit type | Rapid transit |
| Number of lines | 1 in operation, 5 under construction |
| Number of stations |
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| Website | |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1984 |
| Operator(s) |
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| Technical | |
| Track gauge |
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| Electrification | 750V DC through third rail |
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro (Bengali: কলকাতা মেট্রো Kolkata Meṭro) is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line (Line 1) and five lines currently under construction. It was the first such form of transportation in entire India when it first opened its commercial services back in 1984.
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After independence, the transport problem of Kolkata drew the attention of the city planners, the State Government and also the Government of India. Efforts to solve the problem by augmenting the existing fleet of public transport vehicles barely touched the fringe of the problem as the roads account for only 4.2% of the surface area in Calcutta, compared to 25% in Delhi and even 30% in other cities.[1]
With a view to finding an alternative solution, the Metropolitan Transport Project (Rlys) (i.e., Railways) was set up in 1973, which recommended a Mass Rapid Transit System. The MTP (Rlys) prepared a master plan in 1971 envisaging construction of five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata, totalling a route length of 97.5 km. Of these, the highest priority was given to the busy North-South axis between Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash (New Garia) over a length of 16.45 km,[2] and the work on this project was sanctioned on June 1, 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on December 29, 1972.
At first, 5 lines were planned, but finally 3 selected. Those were -
Of these, only Line 1 (Dum Dum to Kavi Subhash) has been constructed.
Since the commencement of construction, the project had to contend with several hurdles, and actual construction of line 1 started only in 1978. The first section opened between Esplanade & Bhowanipore (Now called Netaji Bhawan) by Sanjay Seal and Tapan Kumar Nath. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at Dum Dum & Tollygunge(now called Mahanayak Uttam Kumar), and the metro operated on only a single line. Two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge at the southern end and made into a double line. Services from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started finally in 1995, and full services from Dum Dum to New Garia commenced on October 7, 2010.
In 2010, the Railway Ministry announced four new metro link projects for the expansion of Kolkata Metro, which currently has only one operational line (North-South Metro) and a second line under construction (East-West Metro). These new projects are:
As of 2011, all the projects are reportedly under construction.
Currently, Line 1 has a depot facility at Noapara. In view of the four new projects, a metro station will need to be constructed at Noapara, thus extending Line 1 from Dumdum to Noapara, which will further be extended to Dakshineshwar. This new extension will have interchanges with two new lines. The metro line connecting Barrackpore will meet the new extension as well as terminate at Baranagar, while the metro line from Barasat will meet the same extension as well as terminate at Noapara.
As per the new projects, Kolkata Airport will be served by two lines, namely the New Garia to Kolkata Airport Metro and the Noapara to Barasat Metro. This has jeopardised plans of connecting East-West Metro with the Kolkata Airport. The East-West Metro has thus been realigned to terminate at Sector V, Salt Lake.
To accommodate the intersection of Line 2 (East-West Metro) with Line 1 (North-South Metro), the Central station of Line 1 will have to be modified for providing an interchange between two lines. It is thus worth noting that the Central station would be one of the busiest stations of Kolkata Metro.
Line 1 has a total length of 25 kilometres (16 mi) with 23 stations of which 15 are underground. It has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines and uses 5 feet 6 inch Broad Gauge rolling stock. It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October, 1984 and the full stretch that was initially planned being operational by February, 1995. On 28 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways.[3] The New Delhi Metro, which opened in 2002, is the second such urban metro rail network in India. However, being the country’s first, and a completely indigenous process, the construction of the Kolkata Metro was more of a trial-and-error affair, in contrast to the Delhi Metro, which has seen the involvement of numerous international consultants. As a result, it took nearly 23 years to completely construct a 17 km underground railway.[1]
The current stations in Line 1 are:
The plan to extend Line 1 in the north from Dumdum to Dakshineswar (5.2 km) is under execution. The construction of this stretch started in February 2010. It will be met by the metro line from Barrackpore at Baranagar (12.5 km).[4]
The stations on this stretch will be -
# Dumdum # Ma Sarada Devi (Noapara) # Swami Vivekananda (Baranagar) # Dakshineswar
East-West Metro, a 4,874.58 crore (US$926.2 million) project to connect Kolkata with Howrah by an underwater metro line has been cleared by the central government.[5] The total length will be 14.67 km (8.9 km underground and 5.77 km elevated). This line will be constructed and maintained by a separate body named Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC).However in January 2011 KMRC and the entire EW metro corridor was taken over by the Ministry of Railways from the Ministry of Urban development and the state Govt. of West Bengal. The WB State Govt. decided to handover the project to Indian Railways because Govt. of WB was going through a huge financial crisis. So now the EW Metro's majority stake is with the Indian Railways and the remaining part is as a loan from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation.
The West Bengal government had earlier appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited to conduct a feasibility study of the project after which the government had initially put the project on hold due to funding issues.The underwater metro plan was first thought of when the first metro service was inaugurated in Kolkata in 1984 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The route is to cover 12 stations and go under the river through a tunnel. Foundation Stone was laid on 22 February 2009.
Construction of line 2 started in March 2009. The East-West Metro will run from Salt Lake Sector 5 (in the east) to Howrah Maidan(in the west). Unlike line 1, which is operated by the Indian Railways, line 2 will be operated by a new company - Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC). Trains will be air conditioned, and underground stations will be equipped with platform screen doors. It will run on standard (4' 8.5", 1435mm) gauge, unlike line 1, which uses broad (5' 6", 1676mm) gauge.
Proposed stations are -
Between Mahakaran & Howrah Station, the metro will run 1,500 ft (460 m). under the Hooghly River (first underwater metro in India). The line will be elevated between Salt Lake Sector 5 and Yuva Bharati Krirangan, and the remaining stretch will be underground.Transfer stations will be located at Sealdah and Howrah. Completion date is estimated to be October 31, 2014.
In future the line may be extended to Newtown (in the east) and to Domjur (in the west).
As on 3rd Nov 2011, a proposal to extend the west to Sankrail is under consideration. it will help people traveling in South Eastern Railway to easily enter the city.
A 16.72 km long metro line from Joka (in extreme South Kolkata) and B B D Bagh (in central Kolkata) is also under construction . It is being constructed by RVNL and the tender has gone to Simplex Infrastructures.
The proposed stations on this route are[6] -
The proposed Esplanade station was not to be the same one as that of Line 1 (North-South Metro), but completely different stations. Park Street will serve as an interchange between Line 3 and Line 1. The Esplande station on Line 3 will now be Dharmatala station.
The project to build a 18.5 km long line from Noapara to Barasat via Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.[7] is also sanctioned and construction work has commenced on this stretch.
The proposed stations on this route are[8]-
A second line will emerge from Baranagar that will run upto Barrackpore and will have the following proposed stations -
A connection between New Garia and the Airport(32 km) via E M Bypass , Saltlake and Rajarhat has just started in order to help reduce travel time between the southern fringes of Kolkata to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The work on this New Garia-Airport was inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee on February 7, 2011 with a project deadline of six months.[9] The 32 km link between Kavi Subhas (New Garia) and the airport, to be set up at a cost of Rs 400 crore, will have 24 stations with the terminal Airport station being an underground one. The stations, as declared till now, will be named after eminent personalities.[9]
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