The Metro Railways Kolkata announced that metro services will be suspended from Howrah Maidan to Sector V in Salt Lake for three days, starting April 26, due to testing of the automated signalling and train operating system along the 16.6 km stretch.

In a statement, the Kolkata Metro informed that the suspension was necessary for testing the effectiveness of the ‘Communication-based Train Control’ (CBTC) system from Howrah Maidan to Sector V.

The statement also mentioned that there would be a complete traffic block from Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V of the Green Line from April 26 (Saturday) to April 28 (Monday) for the CBTC system testing and for inspection related to the commissioning of the Esplanade-Sealdah section.

During this period, the inter-connecting subway between Sealdah Metro station and the Sealdah station of the Eastern Railway will be closed.

Due to this traffic block, there will be no special Metro service on the Green Line-2 after the Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL match at Eden Gardens on April 26 (Saturday) night. However, special Metro services on the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-New Garia) will be available after the match.

Currently, metro services are operational in the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section and the Sealdah-Sector V stretches of Green Line, known as Green Line-1 and Green Line-2.

Metro services on the entire stretch were delayed after a ground cave-in in the Bowbazar area between the Esplanade-Sealdah stretch in 2018 during tunneling work. As a result, services have been operating in two sections.

A Metro Railway spokesperson confirmed that services along the entire stretch would be commissioned soon after inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) and approval from the Railway Ministry.

News source: India TV news