The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is due to inspect the 7km Noapara-Airport (formally Jai Hind Metro station) in April. Depending on his inspection report, the line might be thrown open to the public around June or July, an official said. The commission is the autonomous body under the ministry of civil aviation that gives the mandatory safety nod for commercial operations of any new Metro link in India.
The hub station and stabling yard, 13 m below the century-old city airport, is one of Asia’s largest underground facilities. It is part of Phase I of the Yellow Line or the 18 km Noapara-Barasat corridor. Initially, Metro Railway planned the 3 km Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment stretch, which has CRS approval, as Phase I.
But then, at the behest of Metro Railway general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy, Phase I was extended by another 4 km so that Kolkata could have its maiden metro connectivity to the airport at the earliest.
We plan to invite the CRS for inspection of the 4 km Dum Dum Cantonment-Bimanbandar stretch in April,” Devindar Kumar, chief engineer, construction, Metro Railway, said.
The chief engineer did not divulge more but an official said launching a new line usually took a month or so after the CRS’s approval. “Depending on the CRS’s inspection and approval, the Airport Metro may start operating in June or July,” a source said.
It is the sheer expanse and the various features related to passenger amenities that make the Airport Metro station stand out. With a projected daily rider count of 80,000, the station covers 29,000 sqm, including a huge concourse and five platforms
