Howrah to Salt Lake in minutes: East-West Metro Corridor opens to public

Kolkata: Revenue services on the full East-West Metro corridor (Green Line) between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake Sector V began on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off operations, inaugurating the final 2.45-km underground link between Sealdah and Esplanade.

The inaugural train, decorated with marigold garlands and ribbons, left Sealdah at 4.46 pm with motorman Jaydeep Ghosh in charge and reached Esplanade at 4.52 pm. The return service, driven by motorman Charan Biswas, departed Esplanade at 4.53 pm and arrived at Sealdah at 4.58 pm. Commercial operations started later in the evening with trains leaving Howrah Maidan at 6 pm and Sector V at 6.02 pm.

The 16.6-km stretch now allows direct travel between Howrah and Sector V in about 32 minutes, and between Howrah and Sealdah in 11 minutes, journeys that earlier took nearly twice as long and required multiple changes.

Arnab Bhattacharya of Chandannagar said: “Earlier, I had to take a bus or shuttle from Sector V to Bali Halt, then catch a train to Chandannagar. Now I can reach Howrah directly, saving at least an hour.”

Pallabi Naskar of Nalpur, Howrah, who previously travelled via Santragachhi, said: “Now I won’t have to depend on buses. One metro ride to Howrah is enough.” Soumya Panda of Dasnagar added that his earlier commute had involved multiple transfers by bus and metro before he could reach Howrah Maidan. “Now I can go straight to Howrah Maidan,” he said. Services on the East-West corridor will run from 6.30 am until 10.19 pm, Monday to Saturday. The first trains will leave Howrah Maidan at 6.30 am and Sector V at 6.32 am. The last train from Howrah Maidan will depart at 9.45 pm and from Sector V at 9.47 pm. A total of 186 services will operate daily, at intervals of 8 minutes during peak hours. On Sundays, 104 services will be available at 15-minute intervals. Operations will begin at 9 am from Howrah Maidan and 9.02 am from Sector V.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated two other stretches: the 6.77-km Noapara–Jai Hind Bimanbandar (Airport) section of the Yellow Line and the 4.39-km Orange Line extension between Beleghata and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby). Both will open for commercial service on Monday, August 25.

The Yellow Line will run 120 services daily, Monday to Friday, at 10–15 minute intervals. The first trains will leave both terminals at 7.58 am and the last at 8 pm. The Orange Line will operate 60 services a day, with trains every 25 minutes.

The first trains will depart at 8 am and the last at 8.05 pm. Both stretches will remain closed on weekends. Metro Railway has also announced fares for the new corridors. From Howrah to Sealdah, the fare is Rs 20. Travel from Howrah to Karunamoyee or Sector V will cost Rs 30, while trips to the Orange Line’s VIP Bazar, Ritwik Ghatak, Barun Sengupta and Beleghata will cost Rs 50. Journeys from Howrah to Dum Dum Cantonment will cost Rs 40 and to Jassore Road or the Airport Rs 50. From the Airport, fares start at Rs 5 for Jassore Road and rise to Rs 70 for Sector V or Karunamoyee.