The New Garia-Ruby Metro stretch was inspected by the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) on Monday.
A clearance from the CRS is mandatory before commercial run starts. The 5.4km stretch, part of the larger New Garia-airport corridor, should be operational by next month, Metro officials said.
“The CRS conducted a detailed inspection. He is also expected to make some recommendations while giving clearance. Implementing them might take another week to 10 days. Commercial services should start on the stretch in February,” said an official.
CRS (north frontier circle) Suvomoy Mitra arrived at New Garia station before 9am on Monday. The inspection ended around 6.30pm.
Mitra inspected the passenger amenities, control systems and firefighting measures at all stations on the 5.4km stretch — Kavi Subhash (New Garia), Satyajit Ray (Hiland Park), Jyotirindra Nandi (Ajoy Nagar), Kavi Sukanta (Abhishikta) and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Rubi).
A trolley inspection of the tracks was also part of his schedule.
In the evening, a rake performed a speed test from Ruby (Hemanta Mukherjee) to New Garia (Kavi Subhash) and back.
“The CRS conducted a detailed inspection. We hope to get the clearance soon and start commercial services next month,” Metro spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said.
H.N.Jaiswal, principal chief engineer and additional general manager, Metro Railway, and Amit Roy, executive director of RVNL, implementing agency of the New Garia-airport corridor, were present during the inspection.
The New Garia-Ruby stretch saw the first trial run on September 24 last year. Back then, Metro officials were planning to start commercial run by the end of 2022. But a series of bureaucratic hurdles delayed the process.
New Garia will link two Metro routes — connecting Dakshineswar and Ruby — once the new stretch gets going.
