The Kolkata Metro Orange Line’s 4.5-km Beleghata–IT Centre stretch has been completed and is undergoing trial runs, with the state government seeking its inauguration and launch before a series of major events in December.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flag off the stretch during the 32nd Kolkata International Film Festival, which the city is scheduled to host in December. Adhikari also requested that operations begin before the film festival, the Pravasi Sammelan and the World Energy Conference.
The trial run on the Beleghata–IT Centre section has been under way since Mahalaya. Speaking at Santragachi station during the flagging-off ceremony of the Jaipur (Khatipura)–Tatanagar–Santragachi Express, Adhikari asked the railway minister to set a date for the inauguration.
Vaishnaw, who attended the event online, said the Metro project between Beleghata and the IT Centre had been completed and was being connected to the Green Line. He said he would request the Prime Minister to inaugurate the stretch after the trial run was completed. The minister also said he would attend the inauguration.
The stretch forms part of the third phase of the 32-km Kavi Subhash–Jai Hind Airport Metro corridor. The project received approval in 2010 and is being constructed in five phases. Metro services between Kavi Subhash, also known as New Garia, and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, or Ruby, began in 2024. The service was extended from Ruby to Beleghata last year.
The latest section is linked to the long-running construction bottleneck at Chingrighata. Vaishnaw said work there had earlier been held up, while Adhikari claimed that the issue was resolved in 17 days under the present state government. The remarks were made during a political exchange over responsibility for delays, and no independent project timeline beyond the ongoing trial and proposed December launch was provided in the report.
Adhikari also asked the Centre to support a railway connection to Gangasagar, a major pilgrimage destination. He said the connection could be built through a tunnel or a bridge and that the state government was working to open the Muriganga Bridge by 2029. The chief minister cited a footfall of about one crore pilgrims at Gangasagar during Makar Sankranti last year.
The railway minister said he would seek the Prime Minister’s inauguration of the Beleghata–IT Centre section after the trial run concludes. The start of regular operations will depend on the completion of trials and the official inauguration schedule.
