Hon’ble Minister of Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani has inaugurated the Sealdah Metro station. The much awaited extension from Phoolbagan to Sealdah of East-West Metro corridor will be inaugurated and the first service will be flagged off on this stretch.This 2.33 Km extension from Phoolbagan to Sealdah has been constructed at a cost of Rs.1250 Cr.
More details:
- East-West Metro Corridor of Kolkata is a fully Central Government funded project, which will run from Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan, a stretch of 16.6 kms having 12 stations in-between. East-West Metro corridor was inaugurated on 13.02.2020 and was opened for public on 14.02.2020 with six newly constructed state of the art Metro Stations from Salt Lake Sector V to Salt Lake Stadium.
- Later on 04.10.2020, it was further extended upto Phoolbagan Metro Station, a total of 6.97 Kms. The 8th Metro station of East-West Metro, i.e.Sealdah Metro will be inaugurated on 11.07.2022.
- The whole project will be completed by 2023 and thereby connect the twin cities Howrah and Sealdah, two busiest railway stations in Asia. More than 9 lakhs passengers are expected to be benefited after the opening of this 16.6 kms stretch, daily. It will be the first time in India that a Metro corridor will run under a mighty river Hooghly, which is a construction marvel.
- Earlier, there was only North-South Metro existing in Kolkata and it stretches upto 31.40 Kms wherein more than seven lakhs passengers per day get benefitted.
- In the Union Budget 2022-2023, Metro Railway has been allocated a whopping amount of Rs.1380.06 Cr for execution of on-going and new projects and for safety and infrastructure augmentation work. Different on-going Metro Railway projects in Kolkata and adjoining areas have been progressing smoothly and nearing completion at a super fast pace.
- This extended stretch is going to provide fast, easy, eco-friendly and traffic snarl free commuting to thousands of commuters. Around 35,000 daily commuters coming from North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and Murshidabad will get this benefit directly. The passenger count is expected to increase substantially once the entire stretch up to Howrah Maidan is commissioned. In 2025 around 1.83 lakh commuters are expected to use Sealdah Metro station daily.
- People will be able to go to Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, NRS Medical College & Hospital, two oldest Medical Colleges of India, B. R. Singh Hospital which is located very close to Sealdah Metro station.
- Passengers from Sealdah Main and Sealdah South section of Eastern Railway can now easily avail Metro services by merely getting down at Sealdah station and reach their destinations to IT Hub in Salt Lake Sector-V, International Bus Terminal, Book Fair Ground at Karunamoyee, important Government offices at Central Park quickly, which has so far been a tortuous journey. This stretch will provide a pollution-free, convenient and comfortable journey from Salt Lake Sector-V to Sealdah in just 20 minutes as compared to one hour taken by road.
- Likewise, commuters from the Salt Lake & New Town area will also be benefitted. This extension will facilitate Students, Professors and Scholars from Salt Lake & New Town area to reach College Street, the Education Hub of West Bengal which houses Presidency University, Calcutta University, Hindu School and Hare School among others.
- Fully air conditioned Sealdah Metro station is replete with modem passenger amenities like Double Discharge Platforms, Platform Screen Doors, lifts, escalators, toilets, tactiles, sitting chairs, more booking counters and various safety arrangements like Fire Fighting Facilities, Blue Light System, Cross Passages for emergency evacuation from one tunnel to other etc. This station is also aesthetically designed and decorated with murals, photographs, sculptures and idols.
- This extension of East-West Metro up to Sealdah will ensure better operational flexibility and less journey time as well as overall economic growth of the region.
Source: Kolkata Metro -Press Release
