It’s official: the ghost train running without passengers on the airport-Dum Dum Cantonment route for over three years will finally be laid to rest and reborn as a Metro link.

The proposal to convert the ill-conceived suburban rail service into a Metro Railway connection — first reported by Metro on November 11 — received the Railway Board’s green signal on Tuesday.

“Metro connectivity on this route is a viable proposition, which is why we have sanctioned the proposal. Metro Railway has been asked to draw up the estimated cost and send it to us soon so that work can start next year,” a senior railway ministry official said from New Delhi.

Sources in Metro Railway confirmed the development. “We have received the Railway Board’s approval, and the budget for the project will be submitted soon,” an official said.

According to Metro engineers, the project could cost around Rs 300 crore.

The elevated tracks that were laid for the doomed suburban rail service will remain — Metro rakes also run on broad-gauge — but the overhead power supply needs to be replaced with a third rail.

The elevated track will merge with the suburban line near Dum Dum Cantonment, providing passengers a viable option.

Walkalators will be installed at both the Biman Bandar station and the airport to spare passengers the trouble of walking to and from the integrated terminal with luggage.

The plan also includes an interchange facility at Noapara. One of the platforms will be used for trains bound for the airport while the other will be for those headed for Dum Dum and onward to Garia.

The existing 3.8-km stretch, of which 2.8km is elevated, was commissioned on July 29, 2006, by the then railway minister Lalu Prasad. The country’s first direct train link to an airport, however, failed to draw passengers because of faulty planning.

Eastern Railway had tried to popularise the service by increasing the number of trains to eight pairs a day but the strategy did not work. “Very few passengers take the train from Dum Dum Cantonment to the Jessore Road and Biman Bandar stations. The service costs the railways a lot of money without benefiting anyone,” an official said.

But why would commuters and inbound fliers not want to make use of a direct train service to the airport? As reported by Metro within months of the service being inaugurated, the inbound passengers wanting to avail themselves of the service were being inconvenienced by the distance from the airport terminal to the station. Most passengers were also finding it tough to climb the stairs to the elevated platform of the station with luggage.

Biman Bandar station will now be shifted closer to the integrated terminal. “Escalators and walkalators will provide a smooth passage from the terminal to the station,” said a Metro official.