Bengal hastens mega metro project

In a renewed thrust to speed-up the metro project, Metro-rail general manager has directed Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL) to expedite work on the Joka-BBD link and complete the 7.74 km stretch upto Majerhat in the next 18 months. In the next few days, all the hurdles will be removed for the four projects and construction work will be initiated on war footing. The projects included the Joka-Majerhat stretch, the 5.3 km stretch between Kavi Subhash and Hemendra Mukherjee (Ruby Hospital) stations, the 4 km link between Noapara and Dakshineswar stations and the 5 km link from Noapara to Jessore Road. Phase-I of the East-West Metro corridor from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah is scheduled to be commissioned by June, 2018. The official wants the other stretches to be ready by then as well. An action plan has been finalised, spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said, elaborating that by mid 2018, Metro will have enough rakes to run services between Joka and Majerhat. On this score, two rakes from Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will arrive early in 2017 and rakes from China will start arriving by mid-2017.