West Bengal gets big infra boost as PM Modi inaugurates 3 new Kolkata Metro routes, lays foundation for Kona Expressway upgrade
Kolkata: In a major push for West Bengal’s urban mobility and regional connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated three new metro routes in Kolkata, adding 13.61 kilometres of track to the city’s growing rapid transit network.
At the same event, he laid the foundation stone for the six-lane elevated Kona Expressway, a ₹1,200-crore project aimed at easing road travel between Howrah and Kolkata.
New metro routes unveiled
The three metro sections inaugurated include Noapara–Jai Hind Bimanbandar, Sealdah–Esplanade, and Beleghata–Hemanta Mukhopadhyay.
Together, they are expected to ease congestion, enhance last-mile connectivity, and significantly reduce travel times for lakhs of commuters.
Direct airport link & faster travel
At Jessore Road Metro Station, PM Modi flagged off the Noapara–Jai Hind Bimanbandar service, giving Kolkata its first direct metro connectivity to the airport — a facility awaited for decades.
He also boarded the train for a short ride, highlighting the project’s importance in closing a crucial mobility gap.
The Prime Minister additionally inaugurated, via video conference, two other routes: the Sealdah–Esplanade line, which cuts travel time between the busy hubs from 40 minutes to 11, and the Beleghata–Hemanta Mukhopadhyay stretch, designed to serve the city’s IT and business clusters.
A new subway at Howrah Metro Station was also unveiled to improve passenger flow at one of India’s busiest rail junctions.
Metro services expansion
Metro authorities announced that full operations on the East-West corridor between Sector V and Howrah Maidan, spanning 12 stations, began Friday evening with a travel time of about 32 minutes.
The newly launched Yellow and Orange lines will commence services from Monday but remain closed on weekends for now — a decision that has drawn commuter criticism.
To support the expansion, feeder services are being restructured. Bus and auto-rickshaw routes will be realigned to run perpendicular to metro lines instead of parallel, with the goal of decongesting crowded transit points like Sealdah and Salt Lake.
Connectivity boost with 6-lane Kona Expressway
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the groundwork for the 7.2-km six-lane elevated Kona Expressway, a project valued at over ₹1,200 crore.
Designed to cut travel time between Howrah, nearby rural belts and Kolkata, the project is expected to give a strong push to trade, business and tourism.
Currently, part of NH-12, the corridor already carries more than 70,000 vehicles daily.
Once expanded, the six-lane expressway will help decongest traffic, improve freight access to Kolkata port, and offer quicker connectivity for travellers from adjoining rural areas.
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