Chingrighata hurdle defers Orange Line deadline by a yr

Kolkata: The Chingrighata impasse has pushed the Orange Line's deadline from 2027 to 2028, Metro Railway GM Subhransu Sekhar Mishra said at the post-budget media conference on Monday. "Hopefully, the Orange Line (New Garia-Airport) will be completed in mid-2028. That's if the traffic blocks are granted immediately," the GM said.
On Dec 23, 2025, Calcutta High Court directed the state to ensure that the metro viaduct bridging work at Chingrighata crossing was complete by Feb 15, 2026. Dates for the traffic diversion should be finalised by Jan 6, the court said. Mishra said, "We did not hear anything from the state regarding traffic block dates." The traffic block for six nights over two weekends should be given this weekend and the next, according to the court order. Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) needs to launch two concrete segments, or girders, between three piers atop the busy Bypass intersection and proceed to bridge the last 366 m viaduct gap to link the Orange Line with Sector V. RVNL had targeted commissioning Orange Line's Metropolitan-Sector V section in June 2025. An hour earlier, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told a virtual press conference: "Despite the HC order, the Bengal govt is not granting permission for metro work at Chingrighata. A bypass road was built by RVNL for traffic diversion, but the project is stuck here for one-and-a-half years." The Metro GM also mentioned Purple Line's BC Roy Market hurdle. "The shifting of the bazaar became an issue for the Joka-Esplanade corridor. We want some help from the state so that the terminal Esplanade station can be built at the spot," Mishra said. "The Purple and the Orange lines got Rs 1,620 crore. The Yellow Line's share is not bifurcated yet, from a corpus of Rs 2,800 crore. The Green Line got Rs 529 crore for winding up work. There is no dearth of funds for metro work. We just need permission from the state, and Kolkata Metro will span 130 km in the next few years," the Metro GM said.