The Hindu Business Line : Metro Rly to begin services on Tollygunge-Naktala by Sept

At a glance
The number of passengers carried by Metro Railway daily would go up to five lakh when its services are extended to Garia.
Currently, four lakh passengers use the Metro railway services every day.

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Jan. 10 Metro Railway will commence operations on the Tollygunge-Naktala sector by September. Operations from Naktala to Garia is expected to commence in June 2009, according to Mr U.C.D. Shreni, General Manager of Metro Railway.

Addressing members of the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce here on Thursday, Mr Shreni said the Tollygune-Garia Metro Railway extension project had been delayed on account of litigation pertaining to land acquisition along the route. Consequently, the project cost had gone up from Rs 907 crore to Rs 1,032.80 crore. He expressed the hope that court cases would be settled within the next month and Metro Railway operations to and from Garia would become a reality from September 2009.

Mr Shreni said the number of passengers carried by Metro Railway daily would go up to five lakh when its services are extended to Garia. Currently, four lakh passengers use the Metro railway services every day.

According to him, in anticipation of increased passenger traffic, steps were being taken to replace old rakes as also augment the total number of rakes that are deployed for operations. Several other passenger facilitation measures were also being put in place. Steps were also being taken to cut operating losses, he said.

Mr Shreni cited figures to emphasise that, “Kolkata Metro is not only the cheapest metro in the world but also the cheapest mode of transport in Kolkata”.

Metro Railway’s operating losses have gone down from Rs 52.01 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 36.45 crore in 2006-07. Asked if there was any move to raise fares with a view to achieving operational break-even, Mr Shreni said the Railway Ministry was keen to operate Metro Railway services “as a service to the people”.

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