Kolkata’s metro network reached a milestone on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three new corridors, including the city’s first direct rail link to the airport in over four decades.
Modi, flanked by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, waved the green flag to formally launch operations on the new stretches.
The expansion, spanning 13.61 km across the Green, Yellow and Orange lines, is expected to transform mobility in the metropolis, easing pressure on the city’s gridlocked roads and offering quicker access to key transit hubs.
Officials said the Green Line extension between Sealdah and Esplanade (2.45 km) will, for the first time, stitch together Howrah and Sealdah, the city’s two busiest railway terminals. The journey, which currently takes nearly 50 minutes by road, will now be completed underground in about 11 minutes.
Also read: Mamata to skip PM Modi’s Metro inauguration event in Kol: Sources
For air passengers, the Yellow Line extension from Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (6.77 km) introduces the first-ever metro connection to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. A road journey of over an hour is expected to be cut down to around 30 minutes.
The third addition, the Orange Line, will provide east-west connectivity, strengthening a network first launched in 1984 and steadily expanded in recent years.
The event, however, was notable for the absence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool Congress leaders said she stayed away in protest against the alleged harassment of migrants from Bengal in BJP-ruled states.
Officials underlined that the new infrastructure not only addresses pressing commuter concerns but also symbolises a new phase in Kolkata’s transit story.
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