Kolkata, July 10 (IANS). The Metro Railway on Friday completed tunneling work in the underground section of its Purple Line between Kidderpore and Victoria. This success was achieved when Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) ‘Durga’ achieved ‘breakthrough’ (connecting one end of the tunnel to the other) at the proposed Victoria Metro Station.
The tunneling work between Kidderpore and Victoria took exactly one year to complete. The work started on July 10, 2025 at Kidderpore. Now the TBM will move from below Kolkata Maidan towards Park Street. The Blue Line already connects Park Street to the Esplanade and beyond.
This success was achieved at around 10:30 am in the presence of Prem Sagar Gupta, General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata. On this occasion, Consul General of Nepal, Commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Police Commissioner of Howrah and senior officials of Metro Railway, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and the working agency L&T were present.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, while sharing the video of the breakthrough on the social media platform ‘X’, wrote, “A wonderful example of engineering under the city. TBM Durga achieved great success on the Purple Line of Kolkata Metro. Congratulations to the team.”
A senior Metro official said, “The successful success of TBM Durga reflects the engineering excellence, meticulous planning, teamwork and dedicated efforts of everyone associated with the project. This achievement is an important step towards improving Kolkata’s urban transport infrastructure, which will provide faster, safer and more sustainable metro connectivity.”
The General Manager of Metro Railway praised the dedication and teamwork of the employees associated with the project. They completed the tunneling work in a safe, orderly, professional and efficient manner without disrupting ground traffic and maintaining high standards of quality and safety.
The Purple Line will connect Joka to Esplanade in Kolkata’s south-west. The line had lagged behind due to problems in land acquisition and delays in getting clearance from the local military authority (which oversees the grounds). Due to construction work, some clubs present on the ground had to shift to another place for some time. Care has also been taken to ensure that there is no damage to the famous Victoria Memorial, one of the important places of the city.
The Joka-Esplanade metro corridor consists of an elevated viaduct from Joka to Kidderpore, the road ahead of which passes underground. Operations have started between Joka and Majerhat, providing connectivity to thousands of passengers. Once completed, this project will benefit lakhs of people living in Diamond Harbor Road and surrounding areas.
–IANS
ASH/MS