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East-West Metro Corridor Will Be 13.77 km Long,It Will Start From Howrah Station

By siddharth22, Section Kolkata Metro
Posted on Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 01:11:32 AM EST

Those who are waiting eagerly for the introduction of the East-West Metro to avoid ever increasing traffic snarl in the city, would have to pay a little extra in comparison to the existing Metro railway service for the comfort.

For the revised proposal of the East-West Metro that was okayed by the state cabinet today includes a higher fare. The minimum fare of the proposed Metro will be Rs 8 and it would cost Rs 15 for the maximum distance.

The East-West Metro corridor will be 13.77 kilometres long. It will start from Howrah station and it would reach Salt Lake sector-V via Dalhousie, Brabourne Road, Bowbazar via BB Ganguly Street, Sealdah, Phool Bagan via Narkeldanga main road, Swabhumi, EM Bypass, Third Cross road, Salt Lake City Centre, Vidyut Bhavan and Karunamoyee. Eight kilometres of this Metro corridor will be underground. There will be 12 stations of which six will be underground and the rest six would be elevated.

The major difference between the existing Metro service and the proposed East-West Metro will be the fare structure. The existing Metro has three zones and these three zones cost Rs 4, Rs 6 and Rs 8 respectively. But the proposed metro would have five zones. According to the proposal, travelling 0-2 km in the proposed east west metro will cost Rs 8. Similarly, 2-4 km will cost Rs 9 and 4-6 km stretch will cost Rs 11. Fare for the 6-9 km stretch will be Rs 13 and travelling the 9-13 km stretch will cost Rs 15.

All the underground stations, namely Howrah, Mahakaran, Central, Bow Bazar, Sealdah and Phool Bagan will be fully air conditioned. The tunnels will be ventilated. Apart from the underground stations, there will be six elevated stations including Salt Lake Stadium, Bengal Chemical, City Centre, Central Park, Karunamoyee and Salt Lake Sector-V.

However, the state cabinet today approved some additional costs for the project. Earlier, the total project cost was Rs 4,310 crore but the cost has gone up due to inclusion of some additional facilities and obligations. The total project cost has now reached Rs 5,165 crore.

The cost has gone up due to setting up a eco friendly depot at Salt Lake Central park which will cost Rs 180 crore. Similarly RR activity and installation of platform screen doors to prevent suicides will cost Rs 20 crore and Rs 122.32 crore respectively.

The funds will be generated from equity, both of Centre and State, Subordinate debt from Centre and State and senior term debt (JBIC). Primarily, the train frequency will be three minutes and it would be reduced to two minutes in future. The Metro is expected to be introduced in October 2014 if the agreement with JBIC is signed in March 2008.

Source:http://www.thestatesman.net,01-11-07

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