Sealdah-Esplanade stretch: First trial run held successfully
Kolkata: In a landmark event, the first trial run on the 2.63 km Sealdah-Esplanade stretch of the Green Line (East-West Metro corridor) through the west-bound tunnel was successfully conducted on Tuesday, bringing the city one step closer to seamless travel from Sealdah to Howrah in just 11 minutes.
P Uday Kumar Reddy, general manager of Metro Railway and chairman of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), along with other senior officers from both organisations, was present at the trial run. The trial run began at 11.20 am from Sealdah Metro Station, with GM Reddy in the motorman’s cab. The train completed the journey in 11 minutes, as per the expected travel time, reaching Esplanade Metro Station at 11.31 am.
The 16.6-km East-West corridor, spanning from Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan, operates in two phases. The Sealdah-Esplanade stretch, linking these two phases and passing through Bowbazar, encountered numerous construction challenges, including recurring water seepage and soil subsidence. On August 31, 2019, a tunnel boring machine punctured a sand aquifer in Bowbazar, resulting in substantial damage and necessitating the evacuation of over 700 residents. Subsequent subsidence incidents occurred on May 11, 2022 and October 14, 2022.
The successful trial run follows over five years of intense work, incorporating advanced retrofitting methods, geo-stabilisation and modern track fitting. The track work in the west-bound tunnel was completed by Christmas 2024 and integration of the Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system began on January 12, this year.
To expedite the final stages of work, KMRC has requested a 45-day closure of the Green Line from February 8 to March 24. Following the confirmation of the signalling system’s safety and reliability, certification from an international Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) will be sought. Subsequently, the Chief Railway Safety Commissioner (CRS) is expected to conduct an inspection by the end of March prior to granting permission for commercial operations.
