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Kolkata | Metro

6M views 33K replies 524 participants last post by  amittabha1968 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Kolkata's metro started commercial operations in 1984 and is currently being expanded in all directions.

Map (view on google maps)


Operational:
Line 1: Dum Dum to New Garia - 25 kms with 23 stations

Under Construction:
Line 2: Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V - 14.67 kms with 12 stations
Line 3: BBD Bagh to Joka - 16.72 kms with 13 stations
Line 4: Noapara - Barasat - 18 kms
Line 6: New Garia - NSCB Airport - 32 kms with 24 stations

Approved (construction to commence soon):
Line 1: Dum Dum - Dakshineswar (extension)
Line 5: Baranagar - Barrackpore - 14.5 kms

Line 2 Rolling Stock - to be supplied by CAF (16 rakes consisting of 6 coaches each)
 
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#101 ·
True Sun. But, regarding that LRT project to Joka, Buddha babu personally was talking for a long time. Don't know what he is thinking about the project at present.
^^Even if it comes by it may take ages to complete. Absolutely no land acquisition was mentioned in one of the earlier reports as an USP since they would utilize existing tram tracks area for the light rail. But a few answers are required :

1) On DH Rd, How do they plan do move the tracks when the tram tracks end at the depot in Behala ? Surely land acquisition on the congested, encroached, waterlogged & indisciplined DH rd will be a herculaean task for any govt

2) From joka to chowrasta, tram tracks can be utilized but beyond that till race course there are three flyovers/bridges that come in the way. How can they negotiate that? Currently the govt is taking up concretization of a section of the tracks on DH Rd. Will the huge amounts thereafter justify?

3) The DH Rd is now called NH-117 and govt is expected to "handover" the road to NHAI for development according to standards followed in other NH's. Is NHAI at all aware of the LRT project proposal on a national highway?


For the future, the govt should chart out a master plan comprising of metro rail and road networks which would include ring roads, flyovers and road widening whereever possible.
 
#105 ·
Get ready to shell out more for East-West Metro corridor ticket

Kolkata, June 22 Soon commuters will have to cough up higher fares while travelling in the East-West Metro corridor.
It is likely that two different fare structures will exist — an expensive one for the proposed East-West corridor and a subsidised one in the old stretch from Dum Dum to Tollygunge.

A single ticket for commuters will be in place for those crossing over from one corridor to another.

“ An integrated fare collection system between north-south Metro corridor, run by Kolkata Metro Railway and the East-West Metro corridor, run by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) is being planned out,” said M Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development and Chairman of KMRC.

The Metro Railway officials pointed out that even with the “single ticket” system, the fares in the two zones will be vastly different. “While the fares fixed by the Metro Railway are highly subsidised, the KMRC which is a profit making body cannot afford to keep the fares so low. Commuters will have to pay two different fares for the same distance travelled,” said a senior Metro Railway official.

“It may not be possible to bring the fares at par in two corridors presently as the level of service for both might be different,” said Ramachandran. For instance, while the current fare for the first 5 kms in the north-south stretch is Rs 4, it will be Rs 8 for the first two and Rs 9 for two to four kilometres on the East-West corridor.
 
#106 ·
E-W Metro stresses on commuter convenience

Source: Times of India

Somdatta Basu | TNN

Kolkata: Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) will give the maximum priority to commuter convenience as it constructs the East-West Metro. Apart from constructing the Metro corridor, it is also focusing on passenger amenities.
In this endeavour, it plans terminals for the Metro’s feeder buses that will enter the city with passengers, who will eventually avail of the EW Metro for their onward journey within the city. “Feeder buses may drop passengers at the entrance to the proposed Metro station and pick them up from its exits. We may have to re-route a few buses, too,” explained a transport department official. Besides, common tickets will be introduced for the existing north-south Metro, the proposed E-W Metro and the feeder buses.
Besides, there are plans to regulate the movement of taxis and share autos between the two points. “It will not be viable for taxis or autos to ply on the same route. Certain restrictions will be imposed on them. The auto routes will be planned in a way that does not clash with the Metro underground,” said transport secretary Sumantra Chaudhuri.
KMRC is also planning to build parking lots for cars, bikes and cycles at major stations of the E-W Metro. “Once these are built, commuters can park their cars outside a station and then take the Metro,” added Chaudhuri. The authorities though anticipated problems in setting up this facility in the heart of the city, be it at Central station, Phoolbagan, Bowbazar, Sealdah or BBD Bag. It will be easier to do so at the remaining stations in Salt Lake and Howrah.
The proposed Metro will integrate with the existing north-south metro at Central station and with suburban and long distance railway services at major stations like Howrah, Sealdah and Dum Dum. Ferry service at Howrah and the international bus terminus at Salt Lake’s Karunamoyee will also be linked to it.
A shuttle bus service has been proposed for the E-W Metro’s Mahakaran (Writers’ Buildings) station as a large number of commuters will take the metro from it. The shuttle buses will operate free of cost from the station along the corridors of BBD Bag at 15 minute intervals. Similar bus services have also been proposed for elevated stations at City Centre, Central Park and Karunamoyee. Maintenance of these four stations will be handed over to private companies
.
 
#108 ·
Guys, its time for some jokes. Subhas'da told lot of things. :hahano:

East West Metro corridor to be complete ahead of schedule

Kolkata, July 18: The ambitious East West Metro rail corridor project from Salt Lake to Howrah will be complete ahead of schedule in 2014.

The underground project would connect Salt Lake with Howrah maidan across the river Hooghly at an expenditure of Rs 5,500 crore, state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty said today.

The work on the project would begin in 2009 and is scheduled to be finished by 2014, he said.

The corridor will help solve the transport problem of the metropolis.

Denying any rift between the transport and land department over land acquisition for the project, he said that those affected would be compensated.

He said another important project to be implemented is a 46 km flyover for which global tender will be opened on July 31.

The Panihati-Joka Light Rail project, he said, was awaiting the Centre's clearance.

Turning to pollution caused by vehicles in the metropolis, he said that the state government has taken measures to reduce it.

The government, he said, wanted to phase out vehicles manufactured prior to 1990, which would help in reducing pollution. It could not be done, however, as the matter was in the High Court.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Additional Tax and One-time Tax on Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2008 was passed in the house to meet the huge requirement of fund for construction of new infrastructure facilities as well as to cope with growing cost of maintenance of roads.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456366&sid=REG
 
#109 ·
Guys, its time for some jokes. Subhas'da told lot of things. :hahano:



http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456366&sid=REG
:lol:wonder how much of it will be real for the future.
He said another important project to be implemented is a 46 km flyover for which global tender will be opened on July 31.
^^Does this mean the project is already approved?
Turning to pollution caused by vehicles in the metropolis, he said that the state government has taken measures to reduce it.
All diplomatic BS:bash: If pre 1990 vehicles were banned then taxis, private and mini buses would have been extinct and the raining of money into CITU coffers would stop and no political leader would want that to happen.
 
#111 ·
Aren't there private bus companies (formed by industrial majors) in Kolkata running nice Aircon City-buses? I haven't been to the city recently to find out.

Schedules, websites would be helpful if you know them offhand. I reckon these would be a safe and inexpensive way to see the city.
 
#112 ·
Aren't there private bus companies (formed by industrial majors) in Kolkata running nice Aircon City-buses? I haven't been to the city recently to find out.

Schedules, websites would be helpful if you know them offhand. I reckon these would be a safe and inexpensive way to see the city.

Check out this link
 
#113 ·
Hope this will not create a new controversy, which may give our so-called environmentalists (!) an opportunity to stop executing the project. :)

Times of India report

800 trees to be felled for E-W Metro

Ajanta Chakraborty

Kolkata: The first casualty of the East-West Metro Railway project will be 800 full-grown trees of the ever-so-green Salt Lake. But the prospect hasn’t quite dejected the authorities, who have decided to make a new beginning towards a planned greenery in the township.
A few weeks ago, the state forest department and the transport department surveyed and found that 800 trees will come in the way of the construction of the East-West Metro. The felling will begin after Pujas and the municipality and the forest department will start the compensatory planting next month, two months ahead of the felling.
The message was conveyed to Bidhannagar Municipality, which, in turn decided to use this tree-felling exercise as an opportunity to plant trees in the most planned manner.
Rakesh Sinha, chief conservator, social forestry, said: “Compensatory planting for the East-West Metro project is uppermost on our mind, not just in Salt Lake, but the whole city. Salt Lake is perhaps the greenest of them all. Naturally, a lot of thought is going into replacing the trees of this area.”
Sinha said the state forest department has decided to replace each full-grown tree with five saplings. Which brings the number of saplings to be planted in Salt Lake to 4,000. Bidhannagar Municipality has decided to chalk out a complete layout for the trees. A committee of councillors will oversee the layout and requisition the saplings accordingly.
Said chairman Biswajiban Majumdar: “Many of the trees in Salt Lake are wild and serve no beautification or other purpose. As we plan the tree-planting we may have to fell some of these irrelevant trees. The councillors have also been told to give us the locations where the trees are needed most.”
Majumdar added: “I have travelled in the US and Europe and found that no municipally allows unplanned or haphazard planting of trees. In India, that’s a far-fetched dream and not quite feasible at times. But there is no harm trying.”
 
#114 ·
Hope this will not create a new controversy, which may give our so-called environmentalists (!) an opportunity to stop executing the project. :)

Times of India report
^^Unlikely. Before environmental clearance was obtained it was known that the township would lose a certain amount of greenery i.e. along the medians and also central park where the depot would be constructed.I do not think it is a big loss since they can make up for it by planting more trees along both sides of the road.

I also think they should form a consistent strategy like the Delhi metro which plants 7 trees with every tree felled to make way for the metro.
 
#115 ·
Would be great if KMRC goes the DMRC way:)

East West Metro stresses on commuter convenience

Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) will give the maximum priority to commuter convenience as it constructs the East-West Metro. Apart from constructing the Metro corridor, it is also focusing on passenger amenities.
In this endeavour, it plans terminals for the Metro's feeder buses that will enter the city with passengers, who will eventually avail of the EW Metro for their onward journey within the city. "Feeder buses may drop passengers at the entrance to the proposed Metro station and pick them up from its exits. We may have to re-route a few buses, too," explained a transport department official. Besides, common tickets will be introduced for the existing north-south Metro, the proposed E-W Metro and the feeder buses.

Besides, there are plans to regulate the movement of taxis and share autos between the two points. "It will not be viable for taxis or autos to ply on the same route. Certain restrictions will be imposed on them. The auto routes will be planned in a way that does not clash with the Metro underground," said transport secretary Sumantra Chaudhuri.


KMRC is also planning to build parking lots for cars, bikes and cycles at major stations of the E-W Metro. "Once these are built, commuters can park their cars outside a station and then take the Metro," added Chaudhuri. The authorities though anticipated problems in setting up this facility in the heart of the city, be it at Central station, Phoolbagan, Bowbazar, Sealdah or BBD Bag. It will be easier to do so at the remaining stations in Salt Lake and Howrah.
The proposed Metro will integrate with the existing north-south metro at Central station and with suburban and long distance railway services at major stations like Howrah, Sealdah and Dum Dum. Ferry service at Howrah and the international bus terminus at Salt Lake's Karunamoyee will also be linked to it.

A shuttle bus service has been proposed for the E-W Metro's Mahakaran (Writers' Buildings) station as a large number of commuters will take the metro from it. The shuttle buses will operate free of cost from the station along the corridors of BBD Bag at 15 minute intervals. Similar bus services have also been proposed for elevated stations at City Centre, Central Park and Karunamoyee. Maintenance of these four stations will be handed over to private companies.
 
#118 ·
Land hunt for East-West Metro

DEEPANKAR GANGULY


Armed with a compensation kitty of Rs 100 crore, the government will begin acquiring 7.5 bighas of land in the city’s central business district after Puja to create the East-West Metro corridor.

The first land-acquisition notices were issued last week to the owners of two central Calcutta properties — 21 Sukia Lane and 21 Brabourne Road — that have to make way for Metro stations and the elevated portions of the tracks. Pawan Kajaria, who owns the building at 21 Brabourne Road, said he did not “foresee any major problem”.

Neither do officials. The joint secretary of transport, Ashis Thakur, believes owners of tenanted properties would be only too happy to settle for compensation from the government because they have been earning little from rent.

“The value of a building if it is full of tenants paying negligible amounts as rent is not much…We have spoken to owners of some of the buildings that are to be acquired and they have no problems as they are getting hardly anything out of these properties. These buildings are full of tenants who they cannot remove.”

All notices are to be issued under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which prevents owners of properties from challenging the government in a court of law.

But they can move court if the compensation amount is inadequate.

Other than monetarily compensating the owners of buildings that will be demolished, the government has said it will rehabilitate displaced traders at Tirreta Bazar in central Calcutta and near the Nonapukur tram depot, on AJC Bose Road. Both places have vacant land owned by the transport department.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation has already cleared the proposal sent by the transport department for the rehabilitation scheme at Tirreta Bazar.

The East-West Metro project, which Delhi cleared only last month, will connect Salt Lake to Howrah and have 12 stations along the way. All six stations in the central business district will be underground. “But a lot of land is required for surface structures like entrances, exits, gates and air ducts,” a transport department official said.

Land will be also required in Duttabad, adjoining Salt Lake, where there is a large slum. “Residents of the slum will be rehabilitated elsewhere, but not very far from their present dwellings,” the official said.

Calcutta Metro Railway Corporation Ltd, the company formed by the government, has already invited international bids from general consultants for the Rs 10,000-crore transit system, a portion of which will be under the Hooghly. The last date for bidding is July 31.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will be providing half the estimated project cost as a soft loan. The rest will be shared by the Centre and the state government.

Kajaria, whose property houses shops and offices, said he had already spoken to officials about the land acquisition notice and that he had no apprehensions as of now. “But we have not discussed the compensation amount as yet.”

Sources said more notices would be issued in the next few months and land-acquisition would be in “full swing” after Puja in October.

Telegraph
 
#119 ·
KMRC sets 2014 target for E-W Metro

Metro Rail Corporation Targets Timely Completion Of Project At First Board Meeting

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) targeted the timely completion of the East-West Metro project at its first board meeting held on Friday. Modelled on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), KMRC will run the city’s second Metro by 2014.
That KMRC is interested in completing the project on time became apparent when it began the work even before schedule. “The tendering process for the elevated portion will be through by next month. It is going to be a time-bound job. The board will closely monitor the construction and help remove bottlenecks to maintaining the schedule,” said Union urban development secretary and chairman of KMRC, M Ramchandran.
KMRC will first choose the general consultant for the project, which will prepare the detailed drawings and also, decide on the technology for the project. A few consortia of companies have bid in response to the global tender floated by KMRC. The last date for submitting bids was July 31.
The board’s members are the state chief secretary, finance secretary, urban development secretary and the transport secretary as KMRC managing director, the Metro Rail general manager, Eastern Railway general manager, director of DMRC, besides the Union urban development secretary as the chairman. The board has expressed satisfaction with the proactive role played by the state by initiating dialogue with those, who have been or will be evicted for the project.
Asked how they would deal with taking over land in West Bengal, where land is such a touchy issue, Ramachandran said a good bit of the required land has already been taken over by the state government and rehabilitation work has been initiated.
State additional chief secretary (transport) Sumantra Chowdhury, who is also the managing director of KMRC, said: “Some 620 families will be affected and every one of them will be rehabilitated. They would be paid a cost for shifting and relocation.”
Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the principal funding agency for the project, has already released Rs 255 crore for the initial phase. The state has also paid Rs 12 crore for the first year. The state government is in a hurry as JBIC has already warned it against any delay, which will require the government to pay extra interest as penalty. JBIC, which earlier had funded four flyover projects in the city, was irritated by the inordinate delay in completing them. The time overrun had led to cost overruns. Hence, only four flyovers could be built instead of six.
Significantly, the construction of the Metro corridor, 70% of which will be underground, will not disrupt life on the surface. The tunnel will be cut with the help of drilling machines, leaving no obstruction on the surface.
However, the delay in commissioning the project has already resulted in a substantial cost escalation — a new worry for the government. The detailed project report, prepared by RITES, estimated the cost at Rs 3,349 crore. But the escalated cost would be around Rs 4,746 crore, which includes the cost of land acquisition, said a transport department official.

Times of India
_____________________________________________________

An Anandabazar Report
 
#120 · (Edited)
http://howrah.org/india_news/16352.html
June 5: The Union Cabinet gave its approval for implementation of the East-West Metro Corridor project, Kolkata, covering 13.77 km on standard gauge, from Howrah Station to Salt Lake Sector V at a cost of Rs 4,676 cr...
DEEPANKAR GANGULY

... The East-West Metro project, which Delhi cleared only last month, will connect Salt Lake to Howrah and have 12 stations along the way. All six stations in the central business district will be underground.

Calcutta Metro Railway Corporation Ltd, the company formed by the government, has already invited international bids from general consultants for the Rs 10,000-crore transit system, a portion of which will be under the Hooghly. The last date for bidding is July 31.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will be providing half the estimated project cost as a soft loan. The rest will be shared by the Centre and the state government.
Telegraph
Metro Rail Corporation Targets Timely Completion Of Project At First Board Meeting
Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) targeted the timely completion of the East-West Metro project at its first board meeting held on Friday. Modelled on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), KMRC will run the city’s second Metro by 2014.

... “The tendering process for the elevated portion will be through by next month... Significantly, the construction of the Metro corridor, 70% of which will be underground ...
Times of India
cool.
 
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