Metro officials look at more green signals

Kolkata: Metro and railway officials are making a list of projects that can either be fast-tracked or started after years of waiting, now that there will be the same govt at the Centre and state.

The lack of cooperation from the outgoing govt has been considered the main hurdle to faster metro expansion in the city, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said repeatedly in Parliament. The Chingrighata imbroglio of the Orange Line is set to be solved at last, as the traffic police have agreed to grant the long-pending traffic blocks on May 15. A 366-metre gap in the Orange Line's viaduct at Chingrighata on Bypass is the crucial missing link in the upcoming New Garia-airport Metro corridor (Orange Line), which now runs between New Garia and Metropolitan (Beleghata station). Following the Supreme Court's order, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), the implementing agency, has been seeking traffic blocks from police to lift concrete segments and bridge the gap since Feb 2, 2025.

A 500-metre stretch of a two-lane road was built by RVNL as an alternative for traffic diversion. In Dec, a Calcutta High Court division bench ordered that work on concrete blocks must be completed by Feb 15, 2026. The state moved the apex court against the order.

Officials hoped the Purple Line, which promises to become the lifeline for people of Behala, will now move. Construction of the Purple Line's Esplanade station has been stalled because traders at BC Roy Market are unwilling to shift to an alternative site. The state PWD is responsible for the upkeep of the market. The Purple Line now operates between Joka and Majerhat.

The Yellow Line, which aims to connect Noapara and Barasat and is now operational between Noapara and airport, may also take off now, with funding from the BJP-run state govt. Construction is underway up to Michael Nagar, with a proposal sent to the Railway Board for an underground extension from Michael Nagar to Barasat. The approval is pending.

In fact, several projects, which are stuck because the incumbent refused to loosen its purses (pleading it had no funds) and adhere to the 50-50 cost-sharing norm, may now be rejuvenated. "The state will be the same as the one at the Centre. Funds will no longer hold back projects," an official said.

Among such metro lines waiting to happen is the Pink Line (Baranagar-Barrrackpore corridor). When operational, it might function as an extension of Line 1 or the Blue Line.

Two other lines from Green Line or East-West Metro have been deferred for the same reason. They are Howrah Maidan-Santragachhi bus terminal and Sector V to Teghoria.