The New Garia-Airport Metro stretch between Beleghata and Sector V is expected to be ready by the end of December or the first week of January.
Metro Railway denied reports that it had written to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking a December 17 inauguration of the Beleghata-Sector V stretch. Trial runs are currently underway on the 4.5-km stretch between Beleghata and IT Centre in Sector V before passenger services can begin. The first trial run on the Orange Line between Beleghata and IT Centre in Sector V was conducted on October 10, on the morning of Mahalaya. The Orange Line currently operates along a 9-km stretch between Kavi Subhas and Beleghata. Once extended to Sector V, it will cover more than 15 km.
Metro Railway general manager Prem Sagar Gupta said the authorities were confident of completing the Beleghata-Sector V stretch within the announced timeline.
The trial run of the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system is likely to continue for the whole or most of November, railway sources said. Once engineers and officials are satisfied with the trial runs, the Commissioner of Railway Safety will be invited to inspect the stretch before passenger services begin. The Commissioner of Railway Safety may recommend certain measures after inspecting the stretch. The authorities will have to implement these before receiving clearance for passenger services. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is executing the project, while Metro Railway Kolkata will be responsible for operations once passenger services begin on the completed stretch.
