Indian Railways: Check images of swanky new Sealdah station on Kolkata's East West Metro corridor

Out of the 16.6 km long of East West Metro route, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah and Phoolbagan with the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river.

Image: Twitter

After much fiasco between TMC and BJP over the inauguration of Sealdah Metro Station in Kolkata, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Monday inaugurated the underground station of East West Metro corridor. The first Metro train from Sealdah, which is among the busiest railway stations in the country, rolled towards Sector V in Salt Lake, the IT hub of the city, after she pressed the button to unveil the plaque virtually. The Indian Railways has shared some stunning images of the swanky new station terminal, which get modern amenities and features. "The full length of the East West Metro corridor will be completed by 2023," she said at the function.

The extended service of the East West Metro up to Sealdah on its 9 km truncated route will start commercially from Thursday, an official said. The service is now available between Sector V and Phoolbagan in the city and will be extended by 2.33 km.

Aspiration to Reality: Take a look at the brand new, aesthetically designed Sealdah Metro Station, fulfilling the dreams of the city of joy, Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/eoCUo7rd8B

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) July 11, 2022

Irani said that the extension to Sealdah, a terminal railway station in the city, will help around 35,000 passengers in their daily commute from adjoining districts. 

Congratulating all those who played a role in constructing the 2.33 km Metro railway stretch between Phoolbagan and Sealdah at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore, Irani said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making all endeavours for the all round development of infrastructure in West Bengal, including railways and the Metro system.

"Government of India has done everything to provide impetus to infrastructure building of the Railways and the Metro services in view of increasing population," Irani said in her address before the inauguration.

Reaching out to the people, Irani said that her maternal grandfather's house is in Salt Lake and that it is her fortune to be able to inaugurate the Metro run from Sealdah to Salt Lake.

Out of the 16.6 km long section of the East West Metro route, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah and Phoolbagan with the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river, while the rest is elevated corridor, according to the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the executing agency of the project.

The Sealdah-Esplanade link faced bottleneck as several houses developed cracks during underground work at Bowbazar area in central Kolkata in May, nearly three years after a similar incident there. This has delayed the completion of the project from its slated date of December, 2021.

The Metro authorities are now pinning hopes on the extension of services up to Sealdah to increase the number of passengers in the partially operational East West Metro corridor as it is suffering from low patronage.

A Metro official said that it will take only 21 minutes to cover the distance, which is generally a one hour travel time by road.