Kolkata Metro Line 6

Kolkata Metro Line 6
----
Orange Line
Kolkata Metro Line 6; ----; Orange Line
	Entry at Kavi Sukanta station of Line 6
Overview
Other name(s)	New Town metro; Airport Metro; Bypass Metro;
Status	Partly operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Kolkata metropolitan region, India
Termini	• Kavi Subhash (south); • Jai Hind (north);
Connecting lines	Blue Line Green Line Yellow Line
Stations	24; ___; 05 (operational) ; 19 (under construction)
Website	Indian Railways
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Kolkata Metro
Operator(s)	Metro Railway, Kolkata
Depot(s)	New Garia Depot; New Town Depot (Under construction); Airport Depot (Under construction);
Rolling stock	ICF \ MEDHA
Daily ridership	~500,000 (projected)
History
Opened	6 March 2024; 7 months ago
Technical
Line length	29.87 km (18.56 mi); -Operational:5.4 km (3.4 mi); -Under construction:29.5 km (18.3 mi);
Number of tracks	2
Character	underground, at-grade and elevated
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	750 V DC using third rail
Operating speed	80 km/h (designed)
Signalling	CBTC signalling
Route map
Route map
	Legend

Line 6 (Orange Line) is a rapid transit metro line of the Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It will connect New Garia with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport via two major satellite towns of Kolkata metropolitan region, Salt Lake and New Town. It currently operates between Kavi Subhash and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay. This line will be one of the most important stretches of Kolkata Metro because it will connect the southern and the eastern parts of the city with Kolkata Airport. The total distance of this route will be 29.87 km (18.56 mi). It connects Line 1 at Kavi Subhash and will eventually connect Line 2 at Sector-V and Kaikhali and Line 4 at Airport.

History

ICF Medha Rake entering Hemanta Mukhopadhyay Metro Station seen during Hemanta Mukhopadhyay metro station to Netaji Bhavan metro journey 01.webm

This project was sanctioned in the budget of 2010–11 by Mamata Banerjee with a project deadline of six years.^[4] The execution of this project has been entrusted to RVNL at a cost of Rs 3951.98 crore. It will help to reduce travel time between the southern fringes of Kolkata to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and will have 23 elevated stations, 1 underground station and 1 at-grade. The terminal Airport station being the underground one.

Work for construction of the terminal station at New Garia for the 29.87 km (18.56 mi) Kavi Subhash-Biman Bandar (via Rajarhat) metro project finally resumed on 14 February 2017 with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) demarcating the plot they require for the purpose.

The work has been delayed for years due to multiple issues. At first AAI objected the station above the ground, stating that this could be a threat for air traffic. Many underground utilities, power sub-station and water treatment plant had to be shifted. Encroachments and Land acquisition problems held up the project for multiple times.

The 5 km (3.1 mi) stretch from New Garia to Ruby Hospital was expected to start from 2018.^[5] As of now, the station and associated metro viaduct connections are fully completed with trail runs being conducted over this and other phase 1 stations. RVNL planned to launch the metro over this truncated route before this year's Durga Puja, but was postponed due to signalling issues.^[6]

After lot of hardships and developmental work, the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section of Kolkata Metro Line 6 was inaugurated on 6 March 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the truncated sections of Taratala-Majerhat under Line 3 and Esplanade-Howrah Maidan under Line 2.^[7] A week later after inauguration and a day after commercial run started on Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section, RVNL announced the completion of a 76 m viaduct gap after construction of a single-span open-web girder steel bridge over Tagore Park culvert. This completed the viaduct up to Beliaghata metro station.^[8] Trial runs have started over Hemanta Mukhopadhyay-Beleghata metro station and this stretch is planned to open in late 2024.^[9]

Route

The stations are named after eminent Bengali personalities.^[4]^[10]^[11] and will have 22 elevated stations, 1 underground station and 1 at-grade. The terminal Airport station will be the underground one. This station will also have a yard and it will be the largest underground facility of India and city's first. It will be 550 m (1,800 ft) long and 41.6 m (136 ft) wide and will facilitate stabling and reversal of rakes, but it will not be a carshed. One can interchange to Line 4 at Dum Dum Airport, Line 2 at VIP Road (Haldiram) and Salt Lake Sector V and Line 1 at Kavi Subhash. At Kavi Subhash, Rail Interchange will be also available (Sealdah South Section).

On 4 January 2021 the state government decided to rename 9 metro stations in New Town area to their more prevailing names rather than using the old ones which were given during the planning phase. The state transport department has informed Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) of the new names of the proposed nine metro stations between Nazrul Tirtha at the entry of New Town from Salt Lake Sector V till Chinar Park, the last station on the line before it turns right on VIP road towards Kolkata Airport.^[12]

Line 6 (Orange Line)^[13]
#	Station name		Location	Phase	Opening	Connections	Layout	Notes
#	English	Bengali	Location	Phase	Opening	Connections	Layout	Notes
1	Jai Hind	জয় হিন্দ	Kolkata Airport	5	Under construction	Yellow Line • Jai Hind (U/C) ---- Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Airport AC Bus Stand Airport Gate No. 1 Bus Stop Airport Gate No. 2 Bus Stop Airport Gate No. 2.5 Bus Stop Airport Gate No. 3 Bus Stop	Underground
2	VIP Road	ভি আই পি রোড	Teghoria			Green Line • Haldirams (Planned) ---- Minibus Stand Haldiram Bus Stop	Elevated
3	Chinar Park	চিনার পার্ক	New Town
4	City Centre-2	সিটি সেন্টার-২		4
5	Mangaldeep	মঙ্গলদীপ						Also known as Akanksha 5-point crossing
6	Eco Park	ইকো পার্ক						Also known as Nawabpur
7	Mother's Wax Museum	মাদার্স ওয়াক্স মিউজিয়াম
8	Shiksha Tirtha	শিক্ষা তীর্থ						Also known as Kala Kshetra
9	Biswa Bangla Convention Centre	বিশ্ব বাংলা কনভেনশন সেন্টার						Also known as Narkelbagan / Rabindra Tirtha
10	Swapnabhor	স্বপ্ন ভোর
11	Nazrul Tirtha	নজরুল তীর্থ						Also known as Newtown Bus Stand
12	Nabadiganta	নবদিগন্ত	Salt Lake					Also known as Bidhannagar Limit
13	IT Centre	আই টি সেন্টার		3		Green Line • Salt Lake Sector-V ---- Wipro Bus Stop Saltlake Bus Depot Karunamoyee Bus Station(WBTC,CTC,SBSTC,NBSTC)		Located near IT Hub of Kolkata
14	Nalban	নলবন						Serving Nicco Park
15	Gour Kishore Ghosh (Chingrighata)	গৌর কিশোর ঘোষ						Also known as Chingrighata / Sukanta Nagar
16	Beleghata	বেলেঘাটা	Metropolitan	2				Also known as Tangra Metropolitan Township
17	Barun Sengupta (Science City)	বরুণ সেনগুপ্ত	Dhapa/Mathpukur					Also known as Metropolitan
18	Ritwik Ghatak (Bantala Road)	ঋত্বিক ঘটক	Uttar Panchanagram
19	VIP Bazar	ভি আই পি বাজার	VIP Bazar
20	Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby Hospital)	হেমন্ত মুখোপাধ্যায়	Ruby Island	1	6th March 2024		Elevated	Also known as Kasba Golpark / East Kolkata Township
21	Kavi Sukanta (Kalikapur)	কবি সুকান্ত	Kalikapur
22	Jyotirindra Nandi (Mukundpur)	জ্যোতিরিন্দ্র নন্দী	Mukundapur					Also known as Singhbari
23	Satyajit Ray	সত্যজিৎ রায়	SRFTI / Hiland Park			Bengal Ambuja Bus Stop Hiland Park Bus Stop Peerless Hospital Bus Stop		Also known as Chak Garia / Ajoy Nagar
24	Kavi Subhash	কবি সুভাষ	New Garia			Blue Line • Kavi Subhash ---- New Garia railway station New Garia Station Bus Stand	At Grade