Sealdah-Sector V Metro services may be inaugurated by Rly minister on May 31

KOLKATA: Metro services between Sealdah-Sector V may be inaugurated by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on May 31.

According to sources, the railway minister will be attending a programme in Behala and he may virtually launch services in this route.

The inauguration was delayed after the Commissioner of Railway Safety proposed some changes in Sealdah station and the works have been completed.

Metro Railway General Manager Arun Arora along with senior officials, including KMRC MD had visited the station recently.

Earlier, there was a speculation that Metro services in this section might be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the day of Rabindra Jayanti earlier this month.

State Transport minister Firhad Hakim had also held a high-level meeting of the state Transport Department, metro railway officials in February had said that services would be operational in Sealdah-Phoolbagan route in March but it did not happen due to certain issues, including the proposal of changes by the Commissioner of railway safety.

The East West (EW) Metro from Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector V was earlier expected to be operational by March 2022. General Manager Metro Railways along with senior officials of Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMRC), inspected the progress of work at Sealdah station on a number of occasions.

After reviewing the progress of the entire work in December last year, the officials had announced that services from Sector V to Sealdah might be started from March this year. But it did not happen due to certain issues.

The crucial international safety clearance had been received by the EW metro much earlier for the extension up to Sealdah.

The third party assessment and a fire safety clearance were prerequisites for the project.