East-West’s Sealdah-Esplanade & Orange Line’s Ruby-Beleghata stretches likely to be launched by April-end

Kolkata: Two long-awaited stretches of Kolkata Metro, the section between Sealdah and Esplanade on the East-West Corridor (Green Line) and the Ruby–Beleghata stretch of the Orange Line, may be inaugurated by April 24, Metro Railway sources said.

The final nod from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is still pending for the 2.6-km Sealdah-Esplanade section. A CRS inspection is expected on April 14. Prior to that, the stretch may be inspected by the state fire safety department this Tuesday.

Once it clears all inspections, the Sealdah-Esplanade link will complete the full 16.6-km Green Line from Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan, featuring India’s first underwater Metro tunnel beneath the Hooghly River.

Meanwhile, Metro authorities are also preparing for the launch of a 4.5-km stretch of the Orange Line between Ruby (Hemanta Mukhopadhyay) and Beleghata, which received CRS approval nearly a year ago. This section, part of the New Garia-Airport corridor, may also be inaugurated on April 24 by the Prime Minister, alongside the East-West Metro extension.

At present, the Orange Line operates on a 5.4-km stretch from New Garia (Kavi Subhash) to Ruby. With the addition of the Ruby–Beleghata section, the total operational length will increase to 9.9 km. The new stations on this route will include VIP Bazaar (Tagore Park), Ritwik Ghatak (Panchannagram), Barun Sengupta (Science City) and Beleghata.