Kolkata: The Commissioner of Railway Safety on Friday gave the green signal to begin the commercial service of the Joka-Taratala Metro. The services may start soon, however, according to a Metro official, the date has not been decided yet.
General Manager of Metro Railway Arun Arora said: "Commercial operations of the Joka-Taratala purple line section to commence very soon."
CRS Mohammad Latif Khan visited the Metro line for inspection on November 10. He visited all six stations along with Railway officials and inspected the fire fighting system, entry exit, and emergency exit of each station. He further reviewed the control rooms at six Metro stations and also took stock of the security measures.
Several parameters like speed check, time taken between stations, and various safety-related issues were checked during the trials before the inspection, the Metro Railway official said.
Initially, the One Train Only System will commence on this stretch, which has six stations, including Joka, Thakurpukur, Sakherbazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar, and Taratala. Work is underway for the remaining part of the line, which will eventually connect Esplanade at the heart of the city to the southwestern suburbs. At Esplanade, the Joka Line will meet the North-South corridor and the East-West Metro, according to the plan. In Joka to Esplanade purple line, a total length of 9.2 kilometres viaduct has been completed from the ramp of Joka depot to the start of Majerhat station. A total of Rs 2,477.25 crore expenditure by IR has been incurred to accomplish this project out of which Rs 635 crore has been spent to set up the Metro Car Depot at Joka.
In addition, the first phase of the Kavi Subhash to Airport Metro project (Orange Line) from Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, which stretches over 5.4 kilometres is also likely to be inaugurated soon.
Metro GM Arora said CRS inspection on this route with take place soon and commercial operations are likely to start by December this year.