A Metro ride from Ruby to New Garia will cost Rs 20, the carrier said on Saturday. There was, however, no word on when trains would run on the stretch.
“The CRS had inspected the stretch and made some observations. We are implementing them. As soon as we are ready, you will know,” P. Uday Kumar Reddy, the new general manager of Metro Railway, told a news conference on Saturday.
The stretch was inspected by the commissioner of railway safety (CRS), north frontier circle, on January 30. The CRS approval came on February 7 but with some recommendations. The 5.4km stretch, which is part of the larger New Garia-Airport Metro corridor (Orange Line), was initially supposed to have been operational by the end of February.
But two days into April, there is still no word on the start of commercial runs.
Sources in the carrier said a nod was awaited from Delhi. “The Railway Board will take the final decision. The board, in turn, will act according to the railway ministry,” a source said.
Reddy said the board had approved the fare structure.
A ride between New Garia (Kavi Subhas) and Ruby (Hemanata Mukherjee) station will cost Rs 20.
The 5.4km stretch has five stations.
“The minimum fare will be Rs 5 and the maximum fare Rs 20,” said a Metro official.
Once the stretch becomes operational commercially, New Garia will be the first Metro station to serve as a transit point between two Metro corridors — the Blue line (between New Garia and Dakshineswar) and the curtailed part of the Orange Line (between New Garia and Airport)
The switchover of passengers between the two Metro routes will be seamless and on a single-ticket system, said Kausik Mitra, the chief public relations officer of Metro Railway said.
A ride from Dakshineswar, the terminal station in the north-south Metro (Blue Line), to Ruby would cost Rs 45, the maximum. There are two more slabs, Rs 40 and Rs 35, for a switchover between the two lines.
On Saturday, Reddy said 14.23km was added to the Metro network last year, calling the extension unprecedented in the carrier’s history in Kolkata.
The target for the next year is the addition of another 22km, he said.
“The Noapara-Airport (7km), Taratala-Majerhat (1.2km), Ruby-Salt Lake (9.8km) and Howrah Maidan-Esplanade (4.8km) are expected to be ready by next year,” said Reddy.