If things go according to plans, the extremes of Kolkata could well be connected by metro rail in the next five years. Metro rail links have been adopted as a fast-paced transit solution by all major cities in the country.
Metro Railway Kolkata, an Indian Railways wing, is implementing four ambitious extension projects to connect the main city with its suburbs and the airport. The East to West metro corridor executed by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) will connect Howrah in the West with city's IT hub Salt Lake in the East.Of the four proposed links under Metro Railway, the 16.75-km Joka-BBD Bag stretch has witnessed a relatively rapid construction works with pillars coming up to nearly 8 km, starting from Joka near IIM Calcutta. The Joka-BBD Bag project was announced on September 2010 during the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, Ms Mamata Banerjee's tenure as Railway Minister. The Joka-BBD Bag stretch arguably holds much importance as two top TMC leaders – the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Partha Chatterjee, and the Mayor, Mr Shovan Chatterjee – have been elected from Behala, which is largely connected through this link.
The other three metro projects include New Garia to Airport, Dum Dum to Barasat, Dum Dum to Barrackpore via temple town Dakshineswar. While tenders for construction works have been awarded for three fourth of the 32 kms New-Garia stretch, commissioning will be started soon in the other two stretches.
At a project cost of more than Rs 10,000 crore, the four metro routes can practically link Barrackpore in the extreme North of Kolkata with New Garia in South; Joka in the South-Western fringes with Barasat via airport in the North-Eastern corner. The Rs 5,000-crore East to West corridor, which was announced during the Left Front regime in 2006, interlinks between these stretches, thereby helping the commuters connect almost the whole of the city through metro rail.