Noapara-Jai Hind (Airport) stretch of Yellow Line set for first trial run today

Kolkata: The Noapara-Jai Hind (Airport) section of the Yellow Line is set to undergo its first trial run today, Monday. Once operational, this will be the first Metro connectivity to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, significantly easing travel for the people of Kolkata and its suburbs.

The Noapara-Jai Hind (Airport) section is the first phase of the Yellow Line, which is set to be commissioned by March 2025. Ultimately, the Yellow Line will connect Barasat with Kolkata. On Monday, the General Manager (GM) of Kolkata Metro Railway will inspect the Yellow Line, with the first trial run expected to be held in his presence. Prior to this, a successful preparatory run was conducted on Saturday, December 14, at 4:20 pm from Noapara to check that all systems (track and third rail) are functioning smoothly and without any issues. This run was conducted to ensure that all parameters were ready for safe operation before the inspection of the GM.

Devindar Kumar, Chief Engineer (Construction) of Metro Railway, along with senior officials, was present during Saturday’s run.

The 6.25 km Noapara-Jai Hind (Airport) section includes four stations: Noapara, Dum Dum Cantonment, Jessore Road and Jai Hind (Airport). The Noapara station will serve as the interchange point between the Yellow Line and the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash), allowing seamless travel between the northern and southern parts of Kolkata. Additionally, passengers on the East-West corridor will be able to use the Yellow Line to commute to and from the airport by interchanging lines at Esplanade.

Construction of the first three stations from Noapara is already complete and the final phase of work is currently underway at Jai Hind (Airport) station. The airport station will be equipped with six escalators, lifts and staircases. It will also feature two subways: one linking the station to Jessore Road with four entry and exit points and another connecting the station to the airport, equipped with travelators to transport passengers across a horizontal or inclined plane.