Kolkata Monorail was a rail-based transit project planned for the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This was the first proposed monorail in the country.

History

2004 & 2008

The initial plan regarding the monorail was floated in 2004. In November that 2008, the first corridor (

Budge Budge Budge Budge () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is a part of the area covered by the ...

Taratala Taratala is a neighbourhood in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is located in the southern part of the city. Location Taratala is situated at the southern part of Kolkata, surrounded by Garden Reach (west and north-west), Behala (south and sou ...

) was finalised and the project was awarded to Andromeda Technologies, at a total cost of Rs. 1,200 crore, along with a German company, Derap AG & Helbling Technik AG and Fernmeldewerk Munchen Aubing, as technology and signalling partners, respectively. It was a build-own-operate public-private partnership model between

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

and Andromeda Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The coaches were supposed to be initially imported from Germany, and later locally produced at

Titagarh Wagons Titagarh Wagons Limited is an Indian shipbuilder, defense, railway wagon manufacturer headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company manufactures coaches for the Indian Railways, bailey bridges, and mining equipment. A subsidiary, Titagarh M ...

, Jessop and Texmaco. It was targeted that the phase 1 corridor would be operational by the next 4–5 years. The 2nd phase was a 52 km long route from

Rajarhat Rajarhat is a locality in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Lying ...

. But, the project was put on hold, due to lack of support from financial institution and unfavourable conditions, and Andromeda Technologies pulled out from it. The sanction of

Kolkata Metro Line 6 Kolkata Metro Line 6 or the Orange Line of the Kolkata Metro is an under-construction rapid transit line that will connect New Garia with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport via two satellite towns Salt Lake and New Town. The lin ...

in 2010-11 Railway Budget, led to the end of the monorail corridor, since both had almost the same alignment.

2014

Scomi Engineering, expressed its intention to develop monorail system in the city, especially in

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, with a budget of Rs. 2000-2500 crore.

2016

In 2016, the plan was revived. A 70 km corridor from Budge Budge to Ruby on EM Bypass, via Budge Budge Trunk Road, New Alipore and Prince Anwar Shah Road, was proposed, to connect parts

South 24 Parganas South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...

with the

. The state industry promotion and development board approved the proposal submitted by Burn Standard. Thus, Burn Standard was the implementation agency of the project in PPP model with

, at a cost of Rs. 4,216 crore. The Physical construction was planned to begin by March 2017 with a 3-year deadline. The project again came to a halt after few years.

2018

West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation in October 2018 proposed monorail for

, the fast-growing planned satellite city of Kolkata and

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

, another planned city adjacent to New Town. The feasibility study was conducted and cost evaluation of the project was done. The line would start at Ultandanga, and pass via Salt Lake Sector I & III and would end at New Town, thus connecting

Kolkata Metro Line 2 Kolkata Metro Line 2, also known as the East-West Metro and Green Line, is a rapid transit line of the Kolkata Metro in the Indian state of West Bengal. It currently consists of an operational section between Salt Lake and Sealdah, and will eve ...

and

. The total cost of project was estimated at Rs. 4500 crore.

Current status

Again in 2020, Braithwaite & Co., started talks with

to setup monorail in the state. It is planned to run between

Sealdah Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Etymology Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata wa ...

and

Titagarh Titagarh is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Geography Location Titaga ...

. The corridor is still in planning stage. In February 2020, New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) shelved the monorail proposal in and around New Town, and preferred to opt for a cheaper ropeway system.

Corridors

'': Approximate Length''

References

{{coord missing, West Bengal Transport in Kolkata Proposed monorails in India Companies based in Kolkata