City’s first Metro ring ready except for 366m stretch at Chingrighata

Kolkata: Metro Railway is eager to ring the city with the Orange, Green and Blue lines, Metro GM P Uday Kumar Reddy said on Friday. He expressed hope that the Chingrighata impasse would end soon and the last 366m of the Orange line would be bridged to complete the ring, with three interchanges at Esplanade, New Garia and Salt Lake Sector V.A passenger travelling from Esplanade or further and heading south on the Blue Line can disembark at New Garia and switch to the Orange Line. While this line is currently operational till Ruby intersection, once the gap in the viaduct at Chingrighata is bridged, it will enable the passenger to travel to Sector V. There, the passenger can switch to the Green Line and travel back to Esplanade, once the small stretch between Sealdah and Esplanade is commissioned. Efforts are on to create another ring by linking the Purple Line from Joka to the Blue Line at Esplanade and Tollygunge. Later, commuters can avail of a larger ring when the Yellow Line from Noapara allows a Blue Line passenger from New Garia to travel to the airport. There, the passenger can switch to the Orange Line and travel back to New Garia.Reddy said the commissioning of the East-West Metro's last 2.6km leg between Sealdah and Esplanade is taking time because Metro is complying with the observations made by the commission of railway safety (CRS). The nodal authority for mandatory safety nod for any new Metro line in India cleared the Esplanade-Sealdah section on April 28 with observations on signalling, fire safety, and other systems. Once complete, the entire 16km East-West Metro — from Sector V to Howrah Maidan — will be operational. CRS may inspect the upcoming Airport line at the end of this month, the GM said at the inauguration of passenger amenities, like electronic lockers, at East-West Metro's Howrah station, and unveiling a massaging chair in the North-South Line's Esplanade station. Commuters will be able to hire these lockers to store luggage. The lockers will be available in other Metro stations soon."Kolkata Metro is adding passenger facilities every day. The North-South Metro carries around 7 lakh passengers every day. When the entire East-West Metro is functional, the daily passenger count of North-South Metro will be more than 10 lakh," said Reddy.Asked about land hurdles at Chingrighata for Orange Line and Kidderpore for Purple Line, the GM said, "We are liaising with the state. Hope the sites are available soon. The people will benefit immensely when the Orange Line reaches Sector V, using the interface to switch to the Green Line."Girder-launching to bridge the last 366m of the Orange Line has been stuck at Chingrighata crossing since Feb 2. Implementing agency RVNL has sought two weekend nights to launch the last two spans of 28m and 34m over the crossing. The remaining 304m viaduct will pass through the eastern drainage channel and Sukantanagar, and no traffic block will be needed for girder-launching ab-ove these areas, officials said. RV-NL also needs land at Alipore Bodyguard Lines for the undergrou-nd Kidderpore station. Construction of the other three underground stations for Purple Line is on. Metro Railway is also trying to open the Yellow Line's Noapara-Airport section this year.