Kolkata Metro witnessed unprecedented growth in developing infrastructure and capacity expansion of its network during 2021. Despite Covid challenges, Kolkata Metro continued to lay the foundation for future development and the next level of travelling experience for commuters.

The Ministry of Railways listed the following as some of the notable achievements of Kolkata Metro during 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the extended stretch of North-South Metro from Noapara to Dakshineswar (4.1 Km length) in February and flagged off the first Metro on this stretch. In his speech, Modi said, “This extension would not only help the people of Kolkata but also of Hooghly, Howrah and North 24 Paraganas to get the benefit of Metro services”.

The first trial run from Phoolbagan to Sealdah of East-West Metro was successfully completed. Sealdah station of this corridor is all set to be commissioned very soon; A 1.24 MW rooftop Solar Power Plant has been dedicated to the service of the Nation in August.

This power plant has been installed on the roofs of the two major buildings of Central Park Depot of East-West Metro and is scattered over 19173 sq mtr rooftop area. As a result, Metro Railway will be able to save Rs.45 lakhs (approx) per annum; Tokens were re-introduced in Metro Railway on 25 November for the benefit of commuters.

In order to sanitize these tokens, 40 token sanitiser machines have been installed at all North-South and East-West Metro stations. These machines with the help of Ultra-Violet rays sanitise the used tokens for 4 minutes; and Metro Railway has offered 7 Metro stations for station branding rights to corporate houses including private Universities, Banks, Health Care Institutions, Insurance Companies etc.

5 stations of North-South Metro namely Dumdum, Noapara, Belgachia, Esplanade and Park Street and 2 stations of East-West Metro namely Bengal Chemical & Sealdah (which will be operational very shortly) have been offered for station branding rights in this tender. Metro has earned Rs 3.65 crore in the first year by offering the station branding rights of these stations.

Metro Smart Cards have also been branded by two private concerns. For this Metro has so far earned Rs 20.65 lacs. So far, 11 Metro stations have been co-branded.