Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Monday inaugurated the underground Sealdah Metro Railway Station of East West Metro Corridor in the city through virtual mode from Howrah Maidan station. The first metro train from Sealdah, one of the busiest railway stations in the country, rolled towards Sector V in Salt Lake, the city’s IT hub, when it pressed the button to unveil the plaque. The event was organized amid a controversy over invitation to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and was not attended by local Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay or local MLA Paresh Pal.
Irani visited Sealdah metro station earlier in the day. He inaugurated it through virtual mode from Howrah Maidan Station, Terminal Station of East West Metro Corridor on the other side of Hooghly River. “The entire length of the East West Metro corridor will be completed by 2023,” he said at the ceremony.
Aspire for Reality: Take a look at the brand new, aesthetically designed Sealdah Metro Station, fulfilling the dreams of the city of joy in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/eoCUo7rd8B— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) 11 July 2022
An official said that the extended service of the East West Metro on the 9-km short route to Sealdah will start commercially from Thursday. This service is now available between Sector V and Phoolbagan in the city and will be extended to 2.33 km.
Irani said the expansion of Sealdah, a terminal railway station in the city, would help around 35,000 commuters from adjoining districts in their daily commute.
Congratulating all those who played a role in the construction of the 2.33-km-long metro railway section between Phulbagan and Sealdah at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore, Irani said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making all efforts for all-round development of infrastructure in West Bengal. Huh. Railway and Metro system.
“The Indian government has done everything to speed up the construction of railway and metro services infrastructure in view of the growing population,” Irani said in her address before the inauguration.
Interacting with the people, Irani said that her maternal grandfather’s house is in Salt Lake and she was fortunate to inaugurate the Sealdah-Salt Lake Metro.
According to the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, out of the 16.6 km long East West Metro route, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah and Phoolbagan, with the tunnel passing under the Hooghly River, while the rest is elevated. There is corridor. Project.
In May, nearly three years after a similar incident, the Sealdah-Esplanade link was hit by cracks in several houses during underground work in central Kolkata’s Bowbazar area. This has delayed completion of the project from the scheduled date of December, 2021.
Metro authorities are now hoping on extension of services to Sealdah to increase the number of passengers in the partially operational East West Metro corridor as it is suffering from low protection.
A Metro official said it would take only 21 minutes to cover the distance, which is usually an hour’s travel time by road.