Commercial services on East-West Kolkata Metro Corridor to start this month
New Delhi: Soon, Kolkata commuters will be able to commute across the Salt Lake as Kolkata Metro authorities are putting in all efforts to start the commercial services in the first phase of the East-West Corridor during the last week of October. Note that the first phase of Line-2, which covers around 5.7 km, will serve as a vital link of transportation for the residents of Salt Lake.
The final rounds of preparations by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) engineers are being carried out. Currently, the authorities focussing on the grey areas as per the recommendations given by the commissioner of railway safety after an inspection in July stated a report.
KMRCL has been asked by experts to fix the defective bearings on the piers that hold the viaduct on which the rail tracks have been laid. The report cited metro sources saying that the KMRCL engineers were asked to complete the remaining work by October 20 so that commercial operations can be started by the end of this month.
Metro authorities had conducted a mock run for seven days in August in order to familiarise the team of about 150 officials with the nuances and technicalities of the highly advanced East-West Corridor. However, some areas required more emphasis even after the completion of the trial runs. The authorities were even considering starting the second round of independent trial runs but the idea had to be abandoned due to the Bowbazar disaster.
It may be noted that in August this year over 400 persons were forced to evacuate their residences and shops in the heart of the city after more than 50 buildings developed cracks -- and several collapsed -- apparently due to tunnelling work for the under-construction 16.60-km East-West Metro Railway project -- a part of which constitutes India's first under-river train line.
Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Limited (KMRCL) called the incident an "unprecedented disaster" on August 31, when a tunnel boring machine hit an aquifer resulting in water and silt gushing in and triggering serious ground loss on several roads in central Kolkata's Bowbazar area -- close to the city's bustling office and business hub Esplanade and Dalhousie.
After a high-level meeting held on September 28, the Metro authorities have decided to begin the second round of demo-runs. An official was quoted saying, “The three-day mock run will be conducted in the next week while simultaneous preparations will be carried out by the KMRCL”. “After the completion of the remaining task, the KMRCL will submit a compliance report to us. A decision on the date of inauguration will be taken only after that. However, if everything goes according to the plan, the inauguration can take place in the last week of October,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that the metro corridor bridges the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata, two of the most populous areas. The corridor has been planned to drastically cut down travel cost and time, almost by an hour and a half. The Metro would run from Salt Lake's Sector V, Kolkata's IT hub, and Howrah Maidan. Out of the total 16.60 km, 5.8 km is an elevated corridor and 10.8 km will run underground. The 520-metre twin tunnels under the river are part of the underground stretch.
Once commissioned, one would travel more than a 10-storied building below the water surface for almost half a kilometre across the 460 metre-wide Hooghly.
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