Light Rail Transit for Kolkata
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya inaugurated the Light Rail Transit (LRT) on 18th February, which is to be completed in five years according to the claims of the state government.
The LRT will connect Joka in the south with Barrackpore in the north through air-conditioned coaches plying on elevated tracks. The 40 km stretch will contain 37 stations and 40 trains will ply in double track. It will take 90 minutes from Joka to Barrackpore and 1 lakh 20 thousand commuters can use this service after the completion of the first phase of the project. According to government the number of commuters will go up to 4 lakhs after the completion of the second phase.
Light Rail Transit route
Source: Anandabazar Patrika
Minutes before the inauguration, the government signed an MoU with Srei — an infrastructure and finance company which is leading a consortium of Czech company Amex International and the West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Limited — for executing the project.
The cost of the project, which will be executed in two phases, has been estimated at Rs 6,000 crores.
