Preparations in full swing for Joka-Taratala Metro inauguration
Ahead of the anticipated inaugural ceremony next week, the general manager of Kolkata Metro Railway, Arun Arora visited the stretch today to take stock of the preparations.
If everything goes according to plan, trial runs of the much-awaited truncated stretch of Joka-Taratala Metro could start from next month. The entire 14.2 kilometres corridor of Joka-BBD Bag, once operational, will connect the southern parts of the city to Esplanade.
According to sources, the discarded non-air-conditioned rakes that were earlier being used in the north-south corridor are to be utilised for the dry runs in this part of the upcoming Metro. A non-AC rake is to be brought to the Joka depot from Noapara car shed in the first week of July. The rake will first be made to go through some test runs inside the depot for a few days before being rolled out for the actual trials on the tracks. Once considered okay for the test runs, the rake would be trundled. The trial runs, according to sources, are thus likely to start from mid-July or so. The stretch is yet to be readied with the signalling system. The trial runs are likely to be done on the ‘one train on one line’ system.
Notably, the 14.2 kilometres stretch of Joka-BBD Bag corridor has 12 stations including four underground and eight elevated ones. Of the total, the authorities are putting efforts to open a 6.49 km stretch between Joka to Taratala. The truncated part will include six stations namely Joka, Thakurpukur, Sakherbazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar and Taratala. The authorities are said to be mulling over to open the 6.49-km truncated part in September while the entire Joka-BBD Bag corridor is being targeted to be readied by July 2025.
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