Kolkata metro update: Commercial services start o­n Joka-Taratala stretch

Commercial services o­n Joka-Taratala stretch of Joka-Esplanade Metro (Purple Line) commenced from 02nd January, 2023. The first departed from Joka towards Taratala with passengers on 2nd Jan morning.

More Details:

  • Shri Kaushik Mitra, Dy. Chief Operations Manager/ Commercial, Metro Railway handed over the first token of the Purple Line Metro to Shri Prabhat Kumar Chatterjee, the first commuter in presence of other Metro officials.
  • Shri Mitra also presented a gift to him to mark this memorable occasion.  To make this historic event memorable, roses were distributed among the first 100 commuters of the 1st Metro.

  • The first Metro from Joka carried 306 passengers and it was a dream come true for commuters as Metro reached Taratala. Passengers were elated to take the first journey o­n Joka-Taratala Metro stretch (Purple Line).

About Kolkata Metro:

  • Metro Railway, Kolkata is the first underground Metro in India. It extends from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash Metro station near Garia, on the busy North-South axis of Kolkata over a length of 31.365 Kms. with 26 Stations & 15.70 Kms. of underground section.

  • Based on traffic studies, the Dum Dum – Tollygunge corridor was first selected for implementation and work started on 29th December, 1972. The first metro line in India was completed on 24th October 1984, a stretch of about 3.4 km between Esplanade and Bhowanipur (Netaji Bhavan), thrown open for the Public.

  • The Metro Railway, Kolkata was constructed progressively from 1972 to 2021. In Phase-I, a length of 16.45 Kms from Dum Dum to Tollygunge (Mahanayak Uttam Kumar) completed in 1995 and in Phase-II a length of 5.834 Kms from Mahanayak Uttam Kumar to Kavi Nazrul Metro station is completed in August, 2009.
  • In October 2010, Metro services further extended upto Kavi Subhash, a length of 2.851 Kms. It further extended Dum Dum to Noapara, a length of 2.091 Kms, on 10th July 2013. The last leg was opened on 23rd February 2021 for commercial operation from Noapara to Dakshineswar (4.139 Kms).

  • It extended in the East-West axis from Salt Lake Sector-V to Salt Lake Stadium, covering a length of 5.3 kms with 6 stations on 13th February 2020 and further extended from Salt Lake Stadium to Phoolbagan on 4th October 2020 (1.67 kms). It is further extended from Phoolbagan to Sealdah (2.33 kms) on 11th July 2022.

Source: Kolkata Metro- Press Release | Images Credit: Kolkata Metro