On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to complete the Kolkata East-West Metropolitan Corridor Project at a cost of Rs 8,575 crore. This will give a boost to the mass transit system, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said while briefing the media on cabinet decisions today.
The total length of the project is 16.6 km and will consist of 12 stations. It will connect Howrah on the west bank of the Hooghly River with Salt Lake City on its east bank.
“The metro corridor will alleviate traffic congestion, improve urban connectivity and provide a cleaner mobility solution for thousands of daily commuters,” added the minister.
Goyal virtually inaugurated the Phoolbagan station of the Calcutta Metro East-West corridor on Sunday, describing the extension of the line from the Salt Lake Stadium as a “gift of Durga Puja” to the people of the metropolis.
He also pointed to the first train from the new station to Salt Lake’s Sector-V, saying that the entire stretch of the corridor is likely to be completed in December 2021.
Phoolbagan is the first operational underground station in the East-West subway corridor, which travels both below the surface and on elevated tracks, and also through underwater tunnels under the Hooghly River.
MG Road, on the main north-south line of the Kolkata metro, was the last metro station to be put into service in September 1995. All metro stations that will come into operation after that are elevated or level.
Work on the east-west metro corridor was also interrupted due to an accident caused by the explosion of an aquifer in the Bowbazar area in central Kolkata during drilling operations in August 2019.
It will only take 16 minutes to cover the 6.54 km distance between Sector-V and Phoolbagan. When complete, the East-West subway will connect Howrah and Sealdah stations, two of the busiest stations on Railways.
The first phase of the project, a 4.88 km stretch connecting Sector-V and Salt Lake Stadium, was inaugurated by Goyal on February 13.
(With PTI inputs)
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