When will the doors of Sealdah metro station open? This question is now common. There the whole matter hangs on the will or reluctance of the central government. Although there is no answer to this question, sources said that the Sealdah Metro will not be inaugurated till the end of the eight-year anniversary celebrations of the Modi government. That means nothing is happening before June 14. The Railway Board has been informed from the top level.
What exactly happened before? কমিশ Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) Latif Khan visited a new station in Sealdah in March last year to give permission for the Metro to run. He gave the green signal to run the train on March 26. But after about three months, it did not open. Even though Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav was in Kolkata on May 30 and 31, he did not go near the Sealdah Metro.
What exactly is going to be known? According to Metro sources, once the Sealdah is launched, one lakh passengers will use the Metro service daily. So from the end of last March, if the wheel of the metro rolled up to Sealdah, the income would have increased a lot. Railways used to earn more than 10 crore rupees. Naturally, the amount of revenue loss is increasing due to non-launch of Sealdah Metro.
It is learned that following the advice of Latif Khan, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation has given a ‘fine touch’ to Sealdah Metro. So why is the inauguration stuck? According to sources, the civil work of this station has cost Rs 160 crore. About Tk 45 crore has been spent on building railway tracks, power connections and station infrastructure. An additional Tk 25 crore has been spent for various services including lift, signaling system, escalator, fire fighting. For the time being, the passengers stayed away from the service due to the Tughlaq decision of the center. The Railway Board has been informed that it will not be inaugurated now.