The Indian Railways’ proposal regarding revised cost estimate for construction of Kolkata East West Metro Corridor Project at an estimated cost of Rs 8574.98 crore approved by the Government on Wednesday.
The project envisages construction of a Metro Corridor between Salt Lake Sector-V to Howrah Maidan in West Bengal for a total route length of 16.6 kms. The project is being implemented by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited [KMRCL] which is a CPSE under the Ministry of Railways set up as a special purpose vehicle.
“The pre-pandemic target for completion of their project was December 2021. Efforts are being taken to minimise the impact of pandemic on completion of the project. The project includes immense technological challenges like the tunnel below river Ganges which is the 1st transportation tunnel in India under any major river as well as Howrah Station which is one of the deepest Metro stations in India,” the ministry said in a statement.
The mega project envisions creation of efficient transit connectivity between the business district of Kolkata with industrial city of Howrah in west and Salt Lake City in east through a safe, accessible and comfortable mode of public transport. Since this corridor connects three most important parts of the Kolkata Metropolitan area such as Howrah, business area of Kolkata and new settlements in Salt Lake it is going to revolutionise the mass rapid transport in Kolkata and adjoining Howrah and Bidhanangar, it said.