No decision on suspension of services of East-West Kolkata Metro: Official

Implementing agency Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) has recommended a 45-day block for linking the Sealdah-Esplanade stretch of the East-West corridor, it said

The Metro Railway Kolkata said that no decision has been finalised for the shutdown of the entire 16.6 km long East-West Metro corridor for installation of the Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system.

It said that the implementing agency Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) has recommended a 45-day block for linking the Sealdah-Esplanade stretch of the East-West corridor.

"KMRCL has recommended a 45-day block of services from February 8 to March 24 to install a unified Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system across the 16.6 km corridor from Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V. This is crucial for seamless direct connectivity between the two busy terminal railway stations of Howrah and Sealdah and the state IT hub in Salt Lake township. But we are yet to take a final call on the matter," the spokesperson said.

He said that stopping train operation for such a long period will obviously lead to a situation where thousands of commuters will be affected leading to a virtual collapse of the train service in this sector for a considerable period.

"We will take the final decision about the days of block and suspension after careful consideration of all aspects," the spokesperson said.

He said the Metro Railway Kolkata will not take any decision in haste and will come up with an official statement at the appropriate time.

The Metro spokesperson said, "While the complete traffic block on two Sundays (January 12 and 19) as requested by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRC) was immediately granted, the proposal for a complete block of the entire Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V for 45 days has not yet been granted."  The spokesperson said the Metro authorities are hopeful about starting commercial service of the entire stretch by this year itself.

At present truncated Metro services run in the East-West corridor from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade and from Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector V.

Meanwhile, the president of Publishers and Booksellers Guild Tridib Chatterjee wrote to the Metro Railway authorities for not suspending the train services from January 30 to February 8 after reading reports in a section of media to this effect.

Any suspension of services on book fair days will greatly inconvenience thousands of people heading to the book fair in Central Park Salt Lake, the guild said.