The Line 1, Blue Line, also known as North–South Metro of the
Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four ...
, is a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
system serving
South 24 Parganas,
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 ...
and
North 24 Parganas in Indian state of
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 fou ...
. It consists of 26 operational
stations from
Dakshineswar to
Kavi Subhash, of which 9 are elevated, 2 are at grade and the remaining 15 are underground with a total distance of 31.3 km. The line connects
Dakshineswar and
New Garia and uses
broad gauge rolling stock.
Dakshineswar was opened on 22 February 2021 and is elevated and is located north of
Noapara . It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October 1984 and the full stretch that was initially planned being operational by February 1995. On 28 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
. Being the country's first, and a completely indigenous process, the construction of the Kolkata Metro was more of a trial-and-error affair, in contrast to the Delhi Metro, which has seen the involvement of numerous international consultants. As a result, it took nearly 23 years to completely construct around 15 km underground railway from Birpara up to Tollygunge Metro Station.
Public transport experts have suggested that the line be extended from
Dakshineswar to
Bally (where it can connect with local trains of the
Howrah division of Eastern Railway) and eventually to
Dankuni, an emerging industrial city.
History
The laying of the founding stone was done in 1972, but actual construction of line 1 started only in 1978. Line 1 is 31.38 km long with 26 stations (see above). Running of the first metro car on the line by 1984 was considered a great engineering challenge. Former railways minister
A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury took a massive effort to perform it. The first section opened between
Esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
&
Bhawanipore (now called Netaji Bhawan). First day Metro Railway Kolkata was started by Sri Tapan Kumar Nath and Sri Sanjay Sil. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Etymology
During the 19th ...
&
Tollygunge (Now called Mahanayak Uttam Kumar). So metro cars had to be put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, by directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four-car trains were run until 1986. There were no magnetic gates or escalators at that time and ordinary revolving gates served as exits. The Metro too operated on only a single line. Two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge, at the southern end. At the same time, the metro service was extended to the double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates were also introduced at that time. The number of compartments in each train was increased to eight.
Metro service was also started from
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Etymology
During the 19th ...
, at the northern end, to
Belgachia in parallel with the extension of the line to the south. But this short portion was not popular and the service was closed down to be restarted when the entire stretch along the north–south corridor was completed.
After 1986 many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped for nearly six years. After restarting work, the
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Etymology
During the 19th ...
to
Shyambazar metro service was started in 1994. This portion was served by four-car trains. Two months later, the Esplanade –
Chandni Chowk
The Chandni Chowk, also known as Moonlight Square is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India. It is located close to the Old Delhi Railway Station. The Red Fort monument is located at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk. It was b ...
section was opened and Chandni Chowk –
Central section opened three months later. The service from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started in 1995, with
Mahatma Gandhi Road metro station, opening in 1996. During this time, more magnetic gates and escalators were added and the revolving gates were slowly phased out.
In 2009, a large number of stations on Line 1 were renamed by then Minister of Railways
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
.
On 22 February 2021, the Noapara – Dakshineswar stretch was inaugurated by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
.
Timeline
The following dates represent the dates the section opened to the public, not the private inauguration.
List of stations (North to South)
The stations of this Corridors are:
Alignment & interchanges
Dakshineswar,
Baranagar
("City of hogs")
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City
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,
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Etymology
During the 19th ...
,
Park Street,
Mahanayak Uttam Kumar,
Netaji,
Masterda Surya Sen,
Gitanjali
__NOTOC__
''Gitanjali'' ( bn, গীতাঞ্জলি, lit='Song offering') is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature, for the English translation, Gitanjali:'' Song Off ...
,
Kavi Nazrul,
Shahid Khudiram and
Kavi Subhash have side platforms; all other stations have island platforms.
Central and
Noapara are exceptions as they have both platforms on the sides as well as in the centre. Dakshineswar, Baranagar, Dum Dum, Rabindra Sarovar & Kavi Subhash have connections to interchange with
Kolkata Suburban Railway.
Shyambazar,
Mahatma Gandhi Road
This is a list of roads across the world named after the Indian anti-colonial nationalist and lawyer, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Mahatma Gandhi), known for his nonviolent resistance to lead a successful campaign for India's independence from ...
,
Esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
,
Kalighat
Kalighat is a locality of Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in South Kolkata, Kalighat is also densely populated — with a history of cultural intermingling with the various foreign incursions i ...
, Rabindra Sarobar & Mahanayak Uttam Kumar stations have connections to the
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
network.
EM Bypass can be accessed from the
Shahid Khudiram metro station
Shahid Khudiram Metro Station is a station of the Kolkata Metro close to Dhalai Bridge in Briji, Garia, a southern neighbourhood of Kolkata, India. The station is named in honour of the Bengali revolutionary Khudiram Bose. The elevated structure ...
and
Kavi Subhash metro station
The Kavi Subhash Metro Station, formerly New Garia Metro Station, is the southern terminal station of the Kolkata Metro Line 1 (North-South Corridor) of Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, India. It is named after poet Subhash Mukhopadhyay. This station ...
.
Extension up to New Garia (2010)
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
during her first tenure as the railway minister initiated the project of Tollygunge – Garia metro extension. During her second tenure (2009–2011) she inaugurated the extension, and also introduced new
Air Conditioned rakes, manufactured indigenously at the
Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of Chennai. T ...
.
The new extension to Garia Bazar in the south opened to the public on 23 August 2009. The Garia Bazar station was named after
Kavi Nazrul. A final extension, in the southern end, from Kavi Nazrul (
Garia Bazar) to
Kavi Subhash (New Garia) was inaugurated on 7 October 2010, bringing the total number of stations to 23. On the same day, two Air-Conditioned rakes were also pressed into service.
Extension up to Noapara (2013) and Dakshineswar (2021)
The line was extended up to
Noapara from Dum Dum on 10 July 2013. The line was further extended from Noapara to
Dakshineswar (4.1 km) is now complete & operational. It will be met by a metro line from
Barrackpore at
Baranagar
("City of hogs")
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(12.5 km).
Trial runs for this stretch started on 23 December 2020, after delay due to COVID-19 pandemic. The stretch was inaugurated on 22 February 2021 & commercial operations began from the following day.
The stations on this stretch are :
#
Noapara
#
Baranagar
("City of hogs")
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City
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, pushpin_label_ ...
#
Dakshineswar
Features
Technical features
Metro construction is of a very complex nature requiring the application of several new technologies in the fields of civil, electrical, signaling and telecommunication engineering. Indian engineers backed by their own experience and supplemented by their studies abroad adopted advanced technologies in the following fields for the first time in India.
* Cut and cover method of construction using diaphragm walls and sheet piles.
* Use of extensive decking to keep the traffic flowing over the cut while construction is in progress underneath.
* Shield tunneling using compressed air and airlocks.
* Ballastless track using elastic fastenings, rubber pads, epoxy mortar and nylon inserts.
* Air-conditioning and ventilation system for environmental control of stations and tunnels.
* Third Rail current collection system for traction.
* Underground substations with dry-type transformers and SF
6 circuit breakers.
* Tunnel-Train VHF-radio communication system.
* Microprocessor-based train control and supervisory remote control system for substations.
* Automatic ticket vending and checking system.
Salient features
Rolling stock
The whole fleet is vestibuled. Carbodies and mechanical components were made by ICF with electrical components made by NGEF,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
. The fleet is unique in that it is the only railroad equipment in India with end-mounted cab doors (except for some of the WAG-6 series locomotives).
ICF has specifically designed, manufactured and supplied these cars for the first underground railway system. The special features incorporated are:
* Traction power supply through third rail current collection system.
* Automatic door opening/closing and continuous monitoring of the transit.
* Automatic Train Stop (ATS) system which will automatically apply the brakes in case of human failure.
* Automatic train operation (ATO) with the driver acting as the train supervisor (optional).
* A public address system is provided on the trains to announce approaching stations. A central dispatcher can contact any of the train crew and also make important announcements directly to passengers over the system.
With all these features, the design and manufacturing process of these cars to a very high standard of reliability and safety has been a challenge. This was achieved without any technical collaboration.
Reservation for women
In 2008, the Kolkata Metro Railway experimented with the practice of reserving two entire compartments for women.
This system was found to be ineffective and caused inconvenience for a lot of commuters (including women) and the plan was eventually dropped by the metro authority. But a certain section of seats in each of the eight compartments is reserved for women.
Problems with this line
The founder of Delhi Metro,
E. Sreedharan said Indian Railways are not experts at urban transport, and misplanned the Kolkata metro from the beginning.
A private company should run the metro and can bring it up to standard in five years.
Since Kolkata Metro is under Indian Railways, it can't take its own independent decisions. It has to rely on Indian Railways for everything (like rakes etc.). The rakes are ordered directly from ICF without floating any global tenders. And ICF being inexperienced in manufacturing metro rakes, has delivered faulty rakes. Thus causing snags and accidents.
See also
*
List of Kolkata metro stations
The Kolkata Metro is a Mass Rapid Transit Urban Railway network in Kolkata, India. It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October, 1984 and the full stretch that was initially planned ...
*
Kolkata Metro Rolling Stock
*
Trams in Kolkata
The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was dissolved, is the oldest existing tram network operating in India, and oldest opera ...
*
Kolkata Suburban Railway
References
External links
*Ol
Official Website for line 1*Ne
Official Website for all lines
{{Kolkata Metro
Kolkata Metro lines
Kolkata Metro