The East-West Metro is finally ready to start services.
It will maintain top standards of cleanliness and punctuality, comparable to other leading metros in India, said a railway ministry official after inspecting the Esplanade-Sealdah stretch, which is scheduled to be inaugurated soon.
The 2.5-km section between Esplanade and Sealdah has been complete since late April, awaiting passenger services.
Satish Kumar, chairman and CEO of the Railway Board, conducted an inspection of this stretch on Tuesday, along with two other corridors.
Kumar travelled between Howrah and Sealdah on the East-West corridor or the Green Line, from Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (Airport) on the Yellow Line, and between Ruby and Beleghata on the Orange Line. “The railways aim to uphold the highest standards of safety, cleanliness, and operations, consistent with other metro corridors in the country,” Kumar said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate these stretches soon, railway sources said. The railway ministry has not yet confirmed a date.
Operational details
An official from the Metro said the Esplanade-Sealdah section has been “ready for revenue operations” for some time now. Once services begin, a one-way trip between Howrah Maidan and Sector V will take about 35 minutes, while travelling between Howrah and Sealdah stations will take approximately 12 minutes, said a source.
During peak hours, trains will run every eight minutes; during non-peak hours, the interval will increase to about 10 minutes.
Tech upgrades
The East-West Metro uses a communications-based train control (CBTC) system that divides the corridor into moving blocks. Currently, trains operate with a software called Automatic Train Protection Movement (ATPM) or in manual mode, which maintains a minimum 50m gap between trains. If this gap or speed limits are breached, emergency brakes activate automatically.
Trials are underway to upgrade to the more advanced Automatic Train Operations (ATO) system. “This upgrade, expected within six months, will reduce travel time by five to seven minutes and allow for increased train frequency,” said a source.
Project challenges
The Green Line operates 17 six-coach trains manufactured by Bengaluru-based BEML, with 14 rakes already commissioned, said an official of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the implementing agency of the project.
The East-West Metro stretch has faced delays due to water leakage and soil subsidence incidents since 2019. Once commissioned, this will connect the entire 16.6km corridor between Howrah Maidan and Sector V.
Currently, the corridor functions in two segments — Sector V to Sealdah and Howrah Maidan to Esplanade.
A mandatory sanction from the Commissioner of Railway Safety for commissioning the Esplanade-Sealdah section reached Metro Railway in the last week of April.
