Kolkata Metro Orange Line crosses another hurdle on Chingrighata stretch

Kolkata Metro’s Orange Line has reached another construction milestone after Metro Railway conducted the first push-trolley inspection on the Beleghata-Metropolitan to IT Centre section on September 17.

The inspection was carried out on the Kavi Subhash-New Garia to Jai Hind Bimanbandar airport corridor.

The movement of the trolley across the Chingrighata stretch means the tracks are now ready for a train to be driven up to Sector V, reported The Times of India.

The Orange Line currently operates over nine kilometres between New Garia, also known as Kavi Subhash, and Metropolitan or Beleghata.

The Chingrighata section had remained a major gap on the route. A final 31-metre concrete deck slab was placed on August 16 to bridge a 366-metre gap at Chingrighata.

“The first push trolley inspection on the Beleghata–IT Centre section of Kavi Subhash–Jai Hind Bimanbandar Metro Corridor (Orange Line) was conducted on Sept 17, marking a major milestone for the project,” a Metro Railway spokesperson said.

The viaduct and ballastless track work on the section is now complete and electrical work can begin, according to the spokesperson.

The Kavi Subhash-Jai Hind Bimanbandar Metro project is 32 km long and was sanctioned in 2010. It is being executed in five phases.

The first two phases, Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to Beleghata, have already been commissioned and passenger services are operating.

The Beleghata to IT Centre section has now been substantially completed.

The latest track inspection moves the Orange Line closer to the start of operations up to Sector V or the IT Centre station.