Railways plan to extend E-W Metro route till VIP Road's Haldiram crossing

The Railways has finally agreed to take the proposal of Bengal government regarding the expansion of East-West Metro.

The Railways is now planning to extend the route by 5 km from Salt Lake's Central Park to VIP Road's Haldiram's crossing, which is near to the Kolkata Airport.

The proposed third terminal station will be set up on VIP Road. The other two terminal stations have already been made in Salt Lake's Sector V and Howrah Maidan.

"We are planning to merge the proposed 5.36 km extended route to New Garia-Airport Metro at Haldiram crossing on VIP Road. It will be helpful from all the angles," said a Railways source.

It will be recalled that the Mamata Banerjee government proposed this extension to the Railways a few months ago. The proposal was sent to the rail officials from the state secretariat Nabanna.

According to a recent survey done by RITES Limited, they saw two spaces alongside VIP Road. In Kestopur and Joramandir, there are vacant spaces to the left and right of the newly built flyover on VIP Road.

The officials of the RITES saw that there are several two-storey or single-storey building situated there. The land requirement is not so huge. It will be around 3,600 square metre to set up the rail pillars. There are many residential and commercial buildings situated there. Eight private buildings have been spotted as possible problem points on that place.

East-West Metro will be the first such example in India where a train will go under the river. A 520 metre stretch of the tracks will go through a tunnel under the river Hooghly. There will be 12 to 13 stations, in which 50 per cent of the stations will be on elevated tracks and others will be underground. The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation is the implementing agency of that mega Metro rail project.

The Railways ministry has the majority of stake with a 74 per cent share. The Union Urban Development ministry holds 26 per cent. But it should be recalled that till 2012, the state government held a 50 per cent stake while the other 50 per cent was with the Union Urban Development Ministry.