Extended run for Metro

KOLKATA: Come August 23, and the recorded voice inside Metro compartments will no longer ask you to "vacate coaches at the terminal station, Tollygunge". From that day, the Metro will run for another 6 km beyond the current terminal to Garia Bazar. Mamata Banerjee calls it her Puja gift to Kolkatans.
The metro extension upto New Garia will, however, take some more time, as construction is yet to be completed.Services in this section will start from August 23. Initially, we will extend the Metro services from Tollygunge to Garia Bazar," said Mamata in Kolkata on Saturday.
Mamata has even finalized names of the four stations at Kudghat, Bansdroni, Naktala and Garia Bazar. Kudghat is to be named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. That might, however, create a confusion, as there is already another station named after him. The station at Bansdroni has been named after freedom fighter Surjya Sen, the one at Naktala will be named Geetanjali, and Garia Bazar will be named after Nazrul Islam. Tollygunge station will also be renamed after Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar, said Banerjee.
Before throwing open the extended Metro, however, the commissioner of railway safety will do an inspection of the tracks on July 28.
Extension of the Metro network up to New Garia was sanctioned in 1999-2000. By 2005, nearly 85% of the substructure and 13% of superstructure work was completed. Trouble started after this over land acquisition. Even those who were prepared to give up land were not satisfied with the compensation offered. This resulted in litigation, causing cost and time overruns. The project cost of the 8.5 km stretch was initially pegged at Rs 696 crore. According to officials, this has gone up to over Rs 1,200 crore. Trains were supposed to start running along this section by 2007. The total stretch will now be completed only in 2010.
"We shall start a truncated service in the first 6 km that will cover the Kudghat, Bansdroni, Naktala and Garia Bazar stations. After dropping off all passengers at Garia Bazar, the train will go up to Briji (the penultimate station before New Garia) to change tracks. It will then return to Garia Bazar for the onward journey towards Dum Dum. We shall run these trains at the present frequency," an officer said.
One problem that Metro officials may face is the lack of adequate rakes. According to one of them, new rakes are expected to start arriving by the end of 2009. The entire ticketing system will also be changed. Instead of magnetic tickets, passengers will be using smart tokens and cards. Officers are expecting a quantum jump in the number of commuters. Presently, Metro carries 4.25 lakh passengers on weekdays. This is expected to go up to at least six lakh. The fare structure is also a problem. Officials want an increase in fares that have remained unchanged since 1998.
"Passengers can cover the distance from Garia Bazar to Esplanade in 30 minutes. They can go up to Dum Dum in 45 minutes. The Metro is the cheapest mode of transport. We believe the fares need to change," said another officer.