Railway Board firm on original New Garia-Airport Metro route

KOLKATA: With the Railway Board sticking to its original plan for the New Garia-Airport Metro route, the state now needs to take a call on the fate of the oneway flyover from New Town entering the airport. Earlier, the state had proposed to terminate the New Garia line at Haldiram’s with an interface with the East-West line and extend the latter to the airport. This, felt railway officials, would require demolishing the flyover.
In a recent meeting, Rail Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL) — the executing agency of the Metro alignments in Kolkata — had explained to the PWD additional chief secretary the importance of the New Garia line reaching the airport where it will have an interface with the Dum Dum-Barasat corridor.

In a letter to Metro Railways’ GM and Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation’s chairman and director, the Railway Board director reiterated that New Garia line shall be extended upto Biman Bandar as sanctioned and the extension of East-West Metro shall be from Salt Lake Sector V to Haldiram’s only.

“Among all infrastructure projects worldwide, Metro gets the highest priority. Almost all possible ways and means along the alignments have been evaluated and the original plan suits the ground reality. Alternative options might require dismantling of existing structures,” said Railways sources. The final call will be made by state chief secretary Malay De.

Though the state has commissioned RITES for a study of traffic and technical feasibility of the proposed extension of the East-West line till the airport, the Railway Board disapproves the idea. The state sent the proposal to the Board for sanction, but the same is unlikely as the railway policy says it would be possible only if state funds its own proposal.

The state reasoned that the East-West line having stations at two major railway transit points — Howrah and Sealdah — may serve a higher number of passengers. The Metro Railways, however, said that the East–West line will never have a physical interface with the Dum Dum-Barasat alignment at the airport. East–West line has standard gauge line, while all other Metro alignments —including the New Garia-Aiport lines — have broad gauge track.

RVNL felt terminating the New Garia line at Haldiram’s on VIP Road would not serve the purpose. The change of alignment would have a clash with the right hand, one-way flyover from New Town entering the airport . “If the New Garia metro is allowed to extent till airport there can be an elevated interface between East-West and New Garia- Airport metro,” said a RVNL engineer.