Parliament Question: Green line ridership and capacity utilisation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3940 ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026 GREEN LINE RIDERSHIP AND CAPACITY UTILISATION 3940 SHRI SAMIK BHATTACHARYA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the month-wise ridership figures of the Green Line (East-West Metro Corridor) of Kolkata Metro from January, 2025 to February, 2026;

(b) whether it is a fact that the Green Line is operating significantly below its designed carrying capacity, if so, the percentage of capacity utilisation;

(c) the corrective measures proposed to enhance ridership and ensure optimal utilisation of infrastructure on the Green Line; and

(d) the projected daily ridership at the time of Detailed Project Report (DPR) approval and the present average daily ridership, along with reasons for the variance? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) Ridership on any metro network depends on several factors such as availability of connecting lines, first and last mile connectivity options, station locations etc. Green Line (East West Metro Corridor) of Kolkata Metro was fully operational only in Aug 2025 after the completion of the Esplanade–Sealdah section. After full commissioning of the line, the ridership on Green line has increased from approximately 78,000 per day to 2.04 lakh per day.

The completion of various corridors in Kolkata Metro has been delayed due to issues such as land acquisition, utility shifting and the granting of necessary clearances by the State Government. Once all lines are completed and commissioned, ridership is expected to increase significantly. The details of

various corridors of Kolkata Metro are as under:

Kolkata Metro Kolkata Metro started in 1972. The details of the Metro commissioned since then are as under:

Period Metro Commissioned 1972 to 2014 (42 years) 28 km 2014 to 2025 (11 years) 45 km Page 1 of 4 §The details of Metro Corridors commissioned are as under:

S.No. Metro Corridor Section Commissioned Kavi Subash – Noapara (28 Km) This Corridor commissioned before FY 2013-14 (This 1 (Blue Line) required about 42 years to complete) Noapara –Dakshineswar (4.14 Km) This Corridor commissioned in FY 2020-21 2 (Extension of Blue Line) Noapara – Jaihind Airport - Barasat Noapara – Jaihind Airport section (6.77 Km) 3 (18 Km) (Yellow Line) Commissioned in FY 2025-26 Joka – Majerhat - Esplanade (14 Km) Joka – Majerhat section (7.74 Km) Commissioned in 4 (Purple Line) stages between FY 2022-23 to 2023-24.

New Garia - Belaghata - Dumdum New Garia – Belaghata (9.8 Km) 5 Airport (32 Km) Commissioned in stages between FY 2023-24 to 2025- (Orange Line) 26 Howrah Maidan – Salt Lake Sec. V This Corridor commissioned in stages between FY 6 (16.55 Km) (Green Line) 2019-20 to 2025-26.

Further, work pertaining to 4 Metro corridors at total length of about 52 km is under progress, out of which 20 km of work is held up due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues pertaining to State Government. In the rest of the Metro stretch, though the work is in progress yet facing difficulties due to one or other reasons at the end of State Government. Details are as below:

(i) Noapara – Jaihind Airport - Barasat (18 km): Noapara - Jai Hind Airport (6.77 km) has been commissioned and work from Jai Hind Airport to Michael Nagar is in progress. However, work from New Barrackpore to Barasat (7.5 km) is held up due to land acquisition and encroachment issues by State authorities.

S.No. Location Issues

1. New Barrackpore to  Land acquisition (23,000 sq. m) and removal of heavy Barasat encroachments (1277 hutments, 764 shops) are involved in this

section.  The matter is not yet resolved by Government of West Bengal

(GoWB).

(ii) Joka – Majerhat - Esplanade (14 km): Joka - Majerhat (7.74 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Majerhat to Esplanade (6.26 km) has been taken up. However, progress

of the work is affected due to the following issues:

Page 2 of 4 §S.No. Location Issues

1. Khidderpur Metro  For utility shifting and road traffic diversion, 837 sqm permanent Station and 1,702 sqm temporary land of State Government (Kolkata Armed Police) is required. The proposal of this land was sent to State Government on 24.08.2020.

 Several meetings were held with officials of Government of West Bengal (GoWB) for transfer of above land.  After lot of persuasion, State Government finally accorded approval in July 2025 only after almost 5 years.

2. Dr. B.C. Roy Market  For construction of Esplanade Metro Station, temporary shifting of unauthorised 528 Shops at B.C. Roy Market on Defence land is required.  The proposal for NOC of temporary/permanent shifting of these shops was submitted to State Government in February 2022.

Shops for temporary shifting of these unauthorized shops have also been constructed by Railway.  The State Government has been requested to facilitate shifting.

Regular follow up with State PWD is also being done.  Issue is pending for more than 3.5 years.

(iii) New Garia – Belaghata - Dum Dum Airport (32 km): New Garia - Belaghata (9.8 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Belaghata to Dum Dum Airport (22.2 km) has been taken up. However, progress of the work is affected due to the following issues:

S.No. Location Issues

1. Chingrighata Crossing  Temporary traffic diversion at Chingrighata crossing for (Between Beleghata – launching of viaduct segments is required for 3 nights each on Gour Kishore Ghosh either side of the road (8 hours on every night).

stations)  The proposal was submitted to Government of West Bengal

(GoWB) in December 2024.  The diversion road as desired by Kolkata traffic police has already been constructed in February 2025.  Since then, several meetings have been held with various State Government and Kolkata police officials for NOC.

 The NOC is still awaited even after about 12 months.

Page 3 of 4 §(iv) Baranagar - Barrackpore - Dakshineshwar (14.5 km): Baranagar - Dakshineshwar (2 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Baranagar to Barrackpore (12.5 km) is held up due to pending utility shifting in the alignment by state government authorities. The details are as

below:

S.No. Location Issues

1. Baranagar  The original alignment along the B.T road was agreed in 2011 as to Barrackpore per MoU among Metro Railway, RVNL and Kolkata Municipal Corporation.  As per MoU, existing pipeline was to be replaced by new 64-inch diameter pipeline by the State Government.

 Shifting of this pipeline was completed in 2012.  However, NOC is still awaited from Government of West Bengal.

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:  Land acquisition by State Government  Forest clearance  Shifting of infringing utilities  Statutory clearances from various authorities  Geological and topographical conditions of area  Law and order situation in the area of project site  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

All these factors affect the completion time of the project/s. ***** Page 4 of 4 §