Metro Railway General Manager inspects Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch

Kolkata: General Manager (GM) of Metro Railway conducted an inspection of the Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch of East-West Metro Corridor (Green Line) on Sunday. Senior officials of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) were also present during the inspection.

GM P Uday Kumar Reddy stressed on completing the pending works of the Metro stretch within the deadline. Reddy inspected the Howrah Maidan Metro Station and travelled to Esplanade Metro Station under the Hooghly River in a Metro. He inspected the passenger amenities and the ongoing work at Esplanade Station as the stretch “is almost ready for commissioning.”

He also inspected passenger amenities, ventilation and air-conditioning systems of these stations. A month back, Railway Board chairman and CEO Jaya Varma Sinha had inspected the stretch from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch of the East-West Metro. She instructed the officials to ensure that all passenger safety measures are intact before the commissioning of the stretch. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) team inspected the works going on at Bowbazar and the tunnel between Esplanade and Sealdah in December. According to officials, the team had expressed satisfaction with regards to the progress, quality and safety standards being followed for the execution of the project.

KMRCL was expecting to commission the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch of East-West Metro Corridor by the end of December this year. They have been conducting trial runs in the stretch. According to KMRCL MD V K Srivastava, the work in this stretch is almost complete and they were planning to approach the commissioner of Railway safety by November and start commercial service at the end of December.

A part of East-West Metro Corridor, Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector V is already operational. The implementing agency is planning on commissioning the Howrah Maidan to Esplanade Metro stretch by the end of December this year. Work is going on in the Esplanade to Sealdah stretch of the Corridor and the agency plans on completing it by June 2024. If that is achieved, Howrah Maidan will get connected to the Salt Lake Sector-V.