Parliament Question: Metro Service between Kolkata and Suburban Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 50 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025 METRO SERVICE BETWEEN KOLKATA AND SUBURBAN AREAS *50. SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that Government proposes to extend metro railway services between Kolkata and suburban areas and if so, the details thereof; (b) the timeframe to complete Joka-Esplanade Purple Line connection therefor; (c) the details of the Detailed Project Reports/project plan for extension of metro railway from Howrah to Sheoraphuli to manage capacity constraints and improve infrastructure for smoother journey to religious places of Tarakeswar, Joyrambati, Kamarpukur thereof; and (d) the present status of other proposed projects of metro extension? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 50 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.12.2025. (a) to (d) Metro project in Kolkata 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 Presently, 4 metro corridors of total 52 km are under construction in and around Kolkata out of which 20 km is held up due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues pertaining to State Government. The status of these corridors is as given below: (i) Joka – 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: SN Location Issues 1. Khidderpur  For utility shifting and road traffic diversion, 837 Metro sqm permanent and 1,702 sqm temporary land of Station 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.SN Location Issues 2. Dr. B.C. Roy  For construction of Esplanade Metro Station, Market 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. (ii) New Garia - 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: SN Location Issues 1. Chingrighata  Temporary traffic diversion at Chingrighata crossing Crossing for launching of viaduct segments is required for 3 (Between nights each on either side of the road (8 hours on Beleghata – every night). Gour  The proposal was submitted to Government of West Kishore Bengal (GoWB) in December 2024. Ghosh  The diversion road as desired by Kolkata traffic stations) 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 10 months.(iii) Noapara – 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. SN Location Issues 1. New  Land acquisition (23,000 sq. m) and removal Barrackpore to of heavy encroachments (1,277 hutments, Barasat 764 shops) are involved in this section.  The matter is not yet resolved by GoWB. (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: SN Location Issues 1. Baranagar to  The original alignment along the B.T road was Barrackpore agreed in 2011 as 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.Sheoraphuli is already connected with Howrah. Sheoraphuli is an existing station of Indian Railway Network on Howrah - Bandel Junction mainline having 5 tracks. Tarakeswar - Bishnupur (83 km) new line project is held up due to law and order issues in Goghat - Kamarpukur section falling in Hooghly district. The work was stopped by local villagers in about 900m length near Bhabadighi Pond. The work is held up since 2016. West Bengal Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹4,380 Cr./year 2025-26 ₹13,955 Cr. (More than 3 times) As on 01.04.2025, 42 projects (12 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling), of total length of 4,402 km, costing ₹67,991 crore falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal have been sanctioned, out of which, 1,702 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹23,410 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. projects Length Commissioned upto March, (in km) till March, 2025 2025 (₹ in Cr.) (in km) New Lines 12 1,032 337 11,368 Gauge 4 1,201 854 3,673 Conversion Doubling/Multi 26 2,169 511 8,370 -tracking Total 42 4,402 1,702 23,410Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are as under: Cost SN Project (₹ in Cr.) 1 Rampurhat-Mandarhill new line & Rampurhat- 1,500 Murarai 3rd line (159 km) 2 Azimganj - Murshidabad new line (7 km) 164 3 Bardhaman - Katwa Gauge Conversion (52 km) 696 4 Ahmedpur - Katwa Gauge Conversion (52 km) 440 5 Panskura - Kharagpur Doubling (45 km) 408 6 Lalgola - Jiaganj Doubling (23 km) 124 7 Krishnanagar - Bethuadahari Doubling (28 km) 152 8 Nabadwip Dham - Patuli Doubling (22 km) 170 9 Bethuadahari - Plassey Doubling (23 km) 132 10 Ambikakalna - Nabadwip Dham Doubling (23 km) 145 11 Nalhati - Sagardighi Doubling (26 km) 193 12 Tamluk Jn. – Basulya Sutahata Doubling (24 km) 245 13 Plassey - Jiaganj Doubling (54 km) 234 14 Azimganj - Manigram Doubling (21 km) 150 15 New Coochbehar - Gumanihat Doubling (29 km) 330 16 New Coochbehar- Samuktala Road Doubling (29 km) 445 17 Sainthia - Tarapith 3rd line (22 km) 186 18 Ambari Falakata - New Maynaguri Doubling (37 km) 843 19 Bandel - Boinchi 3rd line (31 km) 546 20 Boinchi - Shaktigarh 3rd line (26 km) 424 21 Bazar Sau - Azimganj Jn. Doubling (42 km) 343 22 Sagardighi - Malda Town Doubling (25 km) 248 23 Kharagpur - Narayangarh 3rd line (24 km) 270 24 Monigram - Nimtita Doubling (24 km) 713 25 Purulia - Kotshila Doubling (36 km) 393 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal which have been taken up are as under: SN Project Cost (₹ in Cr.) 1 Tarakeshwar - Bishnupur new line (83 km) 1,542 2 Sivok - Rangpo new line (44 km) 11,973 3 Balurghat - Hilli new line (30 km) 1,209 4 Kaliyaganj - Buniadpur new line (33 km) 1,1475 Katihar - Kumedpur and Katihar - Mukuria Doubling 943 (65 km) 6 Kharagpur - Adityapur 3rd line (132 km) 3,250 7 Narayangarh - Bhadrak 3rd line (153 km) 2,136 8 Chandil – Anara - Damodar 3rd line (121 km) 1,932 9 Kalipahari - Bakhtarnagar 5th line (18 km) 350 10 Dankuni - Baltikuri 3rd & 4th line (18 km) 429 11 Murarai - Barharwa 3rd line (49 km) 935 12 Ranaghat - Krishnanagar City 3rd line (26 km) 446 13 Aluabari Road - New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th line (57 km) 1,630 During last three years (i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) and current Financial Year i.e. 2025-26, total 97 Nos. of Surveys (10 New Line, 87 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal having a total length of 4,004 km have been sanctioned. Some of the important surveys that have been taken up are as under:- SN Project Length (km) 1 Kharagpur - Bhadrak 4th line 173 2 Kharagpur - Tatanagar 4th line 134 3 Chandil - Anara - Burnpur 4th line 125 4 Malda town - Kumedpur 3rd and 4th line 61 Gumani - Malda town 3rd and 4th line including 5 163 bridge over river Ganga Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in West Bengal is as under: Total Land required 4,564 Ha Land Acquired 1,250 Ha (27%) Balance Land to be acquired 3,314 Ha (73%)Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- Balance Total Amount Land Land to land Paid to SN Name of the project acquired be required State (in Ha) acquired (in Ha) (₹ in Cr.) (in Ha) Nabadwip Ghat – 1 Nabadwip Dham 106.71 0 106.71 50 new line Sainthia Byepass 2 22.28 0 22.28 0 line Naihati - Ranaghat 3 13.33 0 13.33 1.3 3rd line Deshapran - Nandigram (18.5 km) Line was sanctioned in 2009-10 at a cost of ₹121.44 crores. The entire Project length is located in East Midnapore District. The project could not progress due to problems in land acquisition and was kept in abeyance. In April 2023 it was decided to re-start the work. However, Survey for land acquisition from Deshapran to 5.0 km could not be completed due to law and order issues. As Deshapran is the connecting station, acquisition of this land is essential for commissioning of this project. Sanction of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project  Connection of missing links and providing additional route  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds 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. *****