Kolkata Metro’s East-West Esplanade-Sealdah Stretch Plans Opening Next Month, Final Preparations Underway For Safety Clearance

Metro Railway has commenced an important evaluation of the eagerly awaited Esplanade-Sealdah segment of Kolkata’s East-West Metro, representing a major advancement towards the activation of the last 2.6 km connection, as reported by Times of India.

This evaluation is necessary before the upcoming review by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), the independent organization under the civil aviation ministry that is responsible for providing safety approval for new metro lines throughout India.

The East-West Metro corridor, costing Rs 10,000 crore, will ultimately extend 16.6 km from Sector V to Howrah Maidan. At present, it functions in two distinct sections—9.2 km connecting Sealdah to Sector V and 4.8 km linking Esplanade to Howrah Maidan.

The finishing of the Esplanade-Sealdah connection is anticipated to consolidate the corridor, greatly improving connectivity throughout Kolkata. Metro Railway plans to open this last segment by Poila Baishakh (15 April). Authorities are eager to have CRS conduct an inspection by the month’s end, moving the project nearer to fruition.

In the weeks ahead, engineers will perform detailed inspections of the new area, examining the Howrah-bound and Sector V-bound tracks, electrical systems, and the overall infrastructure.

An essential aspect of this procedure is the submission of a thorough report outlining the software enhancement of the communication-based train control (CBTC) system at all 12 stations of the East-West Metro.

After Metro Railway provides its comprehensive status report, CRS will conduct its own evaluation, including test runs, prior to issuing the final safety approval.