Kolkata Metro

PM Modi to inaugurate Joka-Taratala corridor of Kolkata Metro on Saturday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Joka-Taratala metro corridor in southwestern Kolkata on Saturday, an official said. The prime minister will first flag off West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri, connecting the state's two most important cities - Kolkata in the south and Siliguri in the north. He will then virtually inaugurate the much-awaited Joka-Taratala stretch of the Joka-Esplanade metro project (purple line) from the Howrah station, the metro official said. Trial runs on the 6.5 km stretch are being held since mid-September and it received the mandatory Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) clearance in November. Metro Railway General Manager Arun Arora inspected passenger amenities at different stations of the stretch on December 24. There are six stations -- Joka, Thakurpukur, Sakherbazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar and Taratala on the route. The Indian Railways has spent Rs 2,477.25 crore for completing the 6.5 km stretc

Compensation being doled out to people displaced after WB Metro work fiasco

Residents and shop owners, who were recently displaced in Bowbazar here after several buildings developed cracks during work in the East-West Metro tunnel, have begun receiving compensation for the loss suffered, a senior official of the project's executing agency said on Friday. As many as 194 people had to be evacuated from the central Kolkata locality after underground water seepage caused cracks in 12 buildings at Madan Dutta Lane there on October 14. Compensation cheques were handed over to 11 families and six shop owners on Thursday after verification of claims, the official of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) said. "Each of the 11 families received a cheque of Rs 5 lakh, while the compensation to the shop owners varied between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh," he said. KMRC has shifted 25 families to hotels following the mishap in October, the third such incident due to the Metro corridor work, while six shops also had to be closed. Earlier, on August 31, 2019, a tunnel borin

Bowbazar residents hit by metro fiasco need to claim compensation in a week

Application forms for claiming compensation are being distributed among those affected by the damage caused to the 12 buildings in Bowbazar here last week during work in an East-West Metro tunnel, a senior official said. The forms will have to be filled up and submitted within a week, following which the claims will be verified by the police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the official of the project's executing agency, KMRC, stated. At least 12 houses at Madan Dutta Lane of Bowbazar developed cracks on Friday morning in central Kolkata following water seepage during work in the tunnel, the third such incident in a little over three years. The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) had said that efforts will be made for disbursal of monetary compensation within 15 days. So far, 183 people have been shifted to hotels from the affected buildings. "The compensation claim forms will have to be submitted within a week, following which verification will be done in another seven da

Govt asks Kolkata Metro to compensate Bowbazar victims for cracks in houses

The West Bengal government on Saturday asked Kolkata Metro to compensate families whose houses in the Bowbazar area have developed cracks due to construction work of the East-West Corridor with Rs 5 lakh each within a month, mayor Firhad Hakim said. The affected shop owners of the area will also be compensated for the loss of livelihood based on a formula derived by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) -- Rs 1.5 lakh for up to 100 sq ft, and Rs 5 lakh if more than 100 sq ft, he said. The decision was taken in a meeting at state secretariat Nabanna, chaired virtually by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Besides Hakim, Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, Home Secretary GP Gopalika, Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, KMC commissioner Binod Kumar and senior officers of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) and experts from Jadavpur University were present in the meeting. At least 12 houses in Madan Dutta Lane developed cracks since Friday morning, following water seepage during wo

Extension of Kolkata Metro Rail services raises passenger count 5x on Day 1

The extension of East West Metro services from Salt Lake Sector Sector V to the busy Sealdah station from Thursday led to very encouraging results with passenger count

Smriti Irani becomes nostalgic while inaugurating Metro station in Kolkata

Union minister Smriti Irani became nostalgic on Monday while recollecting the memories of her maternal grandfather, as she inaugurated the Sealdah Metron station of the East-West Metro corridor.

Amid row, Kolkata Metro says Mamata invited for station inauguration

Metro Railway Kolkata on Sunday night said it has invited Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the inauguration of the Sealdah metro station of the East-West Line, amid the controversy over it. The station is scheduled to be inaugurate by Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday virtually from Howrah. A formal invitation has been sent to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), and local TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and TMC MLAs Nayna Bandyopadhyay and Paresh Pal, a Metro Railway spokesperson told PTI. A source at state secretariat Nabanna said, the invitation has been received but the chief minister would be travelling to northern West Bengal on Monday. Hitting out at the BJP-led government in the Centre, the ruling TMC said the "last-minute" invitation was prompted by public pressure. "This is nothing but last-minute realisation by the Metro of its mistake in the face of mounting public criticism. They knew about the CM's planned trip to north Bengal, but still they organised the programme s

Smriti Irani likely to inaugurate E-W's Sealdah metro station on July 11

Sealdah, a major station of the East West Metro corridor, will be inaugurated on July 11 for which Union minister Smriti Irani has been invited, an official said here on Saturday. The commercial services between Sector V in Salt Lake and Sealdah will start from July 14, Metro Railway spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said. The Metro authorities are pinning hopes that the extension of services up to Sealdah will significantly increase the number of passengers in the partially operational East West Metro corridor, which is suffering from low patronage. "Sealdah station of East West Metro will be inaugurated on Monday and Union minister Smriti Irani has been invited to inaugurate it," he said. Even if the Union minister of women & child development and minority affairs is unable to make time, the inauguration will still be held on that day, Chakraborty said. The Metro station will link suburban train services to and from Sealdah, one of the busiest terminal railway stations in the .

New Covid-19 curbs on transport cause inconvenience to commuters in Bengal

Commuters braved the scorching sun in serpentine queues at bus stands in several places of West Bengal on Thursday morning as new measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 took effect

LIVE: Govt's intent is to privatise Railways, says Rahul Gandhi in Kerala

Rahul Gandhi is on two-day visit to his constituency in poll-bound Kerala. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

PM inaugurates Kolkata Metro extension from Noapara to Dakshineswar

Modi on Monday inaugurated the extension of Kolkata Metro Railway from Noapara to Dakshineswar, revered for the over 160-year-old temple of Goddess Kali

Kolkata Metro conducts 'smooth' trial run on Noapara- Dakshineswar section

The trial run in the 4-km stretch between Noapara and Dakshineswar was smooth, Metro Railway spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said

Kolkata Metro to increase services on Dec 25 to tackle commuter rush

Services will be available every seven minutes during the morning and evening peak hours

Cabinet nod to Kolkata East-West Metro Corridor will aid ease of living: PM

Estimated completion cost of the project is Rs 8,575 crore and the target date of completion is December, 2021

Goyal inaugurates Phoolbagan Station of Kolkata's East West Metro corridor

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday virtually inaugurated the Phoolbagan Station of Kolkata's East West Metro corridor, and flagged off the first train from there to Salt Lake Sector-V. Goyal also said the entire stretch of the corridor, connecting Sector-V and Howrah Maidan, is likely to be completed by December 2021. "I am told that by the end of next year, the entire East West Corridor project of 16.55 km is expected to be completed; hopefully with no further hiccups coming up due to the Covid pandemic," he said while inaugurating the extension of the line till Phoolbagan Station through the virtual mode. Goyal said the project, which has suffered delays owing to several issues, has been fast-tracked since 2015 because of the personal intervention and monitoring by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kolkata Metro to resume operations on Sept 14, no services on Sundays

Metro Railway services in Kolkata will resume on September 14 after remaining suspended for more than five months, its General Manager Manoj Joshi announced

Kolkata Metro plans special services for NEET candidates on September 13

As per the plan, candidates along with guardians will be allowed to board the trains on showing their admit cards, Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi told PTI

Dates for resuming Kolkata Metro services to be fixed shortly: Official

Earlier in the day, Indrani Banerjee, the spokesperson of Kolkata Metro, said the state government has proposed developing a system for issuing e-passes to commuters

Will resume services when Centre gives go-ahead: Kolkata Metro

The Metro Railway here said on Thursday that it will restart services on receiving the go- ahead from the Union Home Ministry and the Railway Ministry.

JSPL starts supplying head hardened rails for Kolkata metro project

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Thursday said it has started supplying head hardened (HH) rail to Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) for the Kolkata Metro's Joka-Esplanade corridor.