After 25 long years Kolkata gets an underground metro station - “Phoolbagan” which is all set to be operated from today i.e. October 5, 2020. The Phoolbagan metro station is the first underground station to be opened on the line that will connect Sector V to Howrah Maidan. The East-West line will now be extended till Phoolbagan. Commercial services between Phoolbagan and Sector V have started from today. The total length of this project is 16.5 km and the total estimated project cost is Rs. 8574.98 Cr.
M G Road in the north-south main line of Kolkata Metro was the last underground station to be commissioned back in September 1995. All metro stations opened after that were either elevated or at graded-level. Kolkata metro being the first in the country has been an icon beautifully etched with the city. The most amazing aspect is that the underground metro stations have stunned tourists for years. However it has been quite some time since we had an underground way. The increasing population and poor soil conditions never allowed the authorities to plan something as such. Now the dream finally comes true at Phoolbagan which gets an underground metro station after 25 long years.
Phoolbagan metro services
The operation of the metro train services from Phoolbagan has started from today. It will run between 08:00 hrs and 19:50 hrs from Salt Lake Sector-V to Phoolbagan at a 30 minutes interval. The metro train will complete 48 rounds daily. The last service will start from Salt Lake Sector-V and Phoolbagan stations at 19:30 hrs. There would be no service on Sunday.
Also read: First Underwater Metro Tunnel
It is expected that the East-West Metro corridor will be used by nearly 10 lakh people by 2035. The extension of the line will create an excellent transportation facility for people working in Salt Lake IT sectors. Additionally it will also help in connecting many government offices, the stadium and other places with the old parts of the city. This route usually takes around an hour since there are no direct buses or autos to connect the spots but now it will take 16-minutes to cover the 6.54 km distance between Sector-V and Phoolbagan.
It is truly commendable that all the engineers and railway officials have worked extra hard amid the pandemic to complete the work on Phoolbagan Station for Durga Puja festivities. The first phase of the project, a 4.88-km stretch connecting Sector-V and Salt Lake Stadium, was inaugurated by Piyush Goyal on February 13, 2020. Once fully operational the East-West corridor will connect Howrah and Salt Lake a distance of 16.5km and a part of it will run under the Hooghly.
The East-West metro corridor has been the hot buzz of Kolkata ever since it inculcated the country's first underwater metro. With Phoolbagan's underground station the corridor has become much more exciting and people of Kolkata can't wait to take a journey. What are you waiting for? Plan a trip to the city of joy with your friends or family and book your train tickets through the Trainman app. Download Trainman App and check PNR Status of the booked ticket, Seat Availability in any train, Running Status of train and lot more.