Metro Railway is targeting a Poila Baisakh inauguration of the 3km Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment section of the Noapara-Barasat Metro line that will carry the colour code yellow.
With less than three weeks left to go for Poila Baisakh, the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) is likely to conduct a two-day inspection of the stretch from Wednesday.
Once this metro line is commissioned, Nopara will become an interchange for the Blue and Yellow lines. At present, there are two other metro interchanges in Kolkata — Esplanade for the Blue and Green lines and New Garia for the interchange between the Blue and Orange lines. Two more interchanges are lined up: one at Salt Lake Sector V where one can change between the Green and Orange lines and the other at Kolkata airport where passengers can change between the Yellow and Orange lines.
On Sunday, the maiden train trials were conducted on the Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment section. An AC Medha rake started from Noapara at 6.18pm, running at a maximum speed of 73kmph and taking two round trips.
On Jan 8, Metro Railway general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy inspected the stretch. He started with a trolley inspection to check the viaduct, tracks and ramps on his way to Dum Dum Cantonment station which has an interface with Eastern Railway’s station. The metro and the suburban rail stations are connected with a foot overbridge (FOB). “The Dum Dum Cantonment Metro station is likely to have high footfall, given its interface with the railway line and the Metro interface at Noapara,” an official said.
Earlier, the first phase of Kolkata’s Line 4 extended across 7km to Biman Bandar or the Jai Hind Metro station at Airport. Now it’s been truncated further — to 3 km — since work from Dum Dum Cantonment to Airport is still incomplete. The second phase – from the Airport to New Barrackpore – is also stuck in hurdles. Work for the last phase — New Barrackpore to Barasat — hasn’t even started. But the Airport Metro station, around 150m (492ft) from the airport terminal building, is coming up speedily.
Annually, 9 million foreigners check in and out at Narita Airport, where JCB provides a calm resting environment for foreign cardholders. Many tourists who travel from Narita airport to Ueno in Tokyo prefer to take the Keisei Sky Liner. It helps to complete the distance of around 60 kilometers in just 36 minutes.
Metro Railway had earlier targeted commissioning of the 3km Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment stretch in March and commissioning the Noapara-Airport section a few months later. Officials said given that the Model Code of Conduct is in place, the Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment section may not be flagged off by a “VVIP” from the Centre.
