KOLKATA: The deadline for Orange Line’s Phase II extension — from Ruby to Sector V — has been revised to March 2025. RVNL, the implementing agency that was chasing a Dec 2024 deadline to complete the 4km extension beyond Metropolitan on EM Bypass to Sector V on Salt Lake Bypass, has acknowledged that it will not be possible to complete the work by this year-end as an 800m viaduct gap is still to be bridged at Chingrighata.
Work is underway to bridge the other 125m gap in this section at Metropolitan.
Over the last year, the corridor overcame crucial land hurdles at Tagore Park, Metropolitan, Chingrighata and Nicco Park. It also acquired the mandatory safety approval from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) for revenue operations along the 4.5km Ruby-Metropolitan section.
On July 25, TOI reported that RVNL had been allocated the highest budgetary funds of Rs 1,791 crore this fiscal and had thus revised its Phase II plans.
“It makes better sense to start an 8.5km extended Orange line. This way, the corridor would have an interchange with the East-West Metro or the Green line at Sector V,” a Railways official said.
The 29km Orange Line or Kolkata’s Line 6, approved in 2010, started a truncated 5.4km run from New Garia (Kavi Subhas station) to Ruby crossing (Hemanta Mukhopadhay station) on March 15 this year.
The corridor will eventually link the North-South’s New Garia terminal with the city airport, via EM Bypass and New Town. But the viaduct had multiple gaps because of land issues.
Right after the Ruby crossing, at Tagore Park, there was a 76m yawning gap, which has now been filled with a hanging bridge across a canal. The next big gap was at Metropolitan.
Even in March this year, there were several hurdles beyond the Metro station at Metropolitan (officially called Beleghata). The corridor, as pointed out by the CRS, didn’t have the required 90m viaduct beyond the station, mandatory for eight-car rakes to change tracks.
On June 13, traffic cops handed over the Metropolitan site to facilitate construction of the last two piers — 288 and 289. The process to launch girder was also on.
Last year, the corridor overcame another major hurdle — at Chingrighata — where work on a pier (318) was stuck for years because of its positioning right in the middle of the crossing. The next pillar (319) was constructed this year. In June, RVNL received a traffic block to construct the platforms of the Nicco Park station.
“We had intended to seek the CRS inspection this Dec. But now will have to be postponed to early next year, following which the Ruby-Sector V section will be launched,” a Railways official said.
