In a development that has long been awaited by thousands of air travelers, Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is on the cusp of making dreams come true as the Metro services draw near.
The much-anticipated airport metro station has completed its structural construction and is all set to link three crucial corridors: New Garia to Airport, Noapara to Airport, and Airport to Barasat.
The Railway Ministry, in a press release, revealed its keen focus on the Noapara to Barasat via the Biman Bandar Metro Project, which will provide a direct metro link to the Kolkata airport. Currently, a dedicated team of engineers, senior metro officers, and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working tirelessly round-the-clock to ensure the smooth functioning of this metro station.
“The Airport station is India’s biggest underground Metro facility, and will also boast of the city’s first underground railway yard. We worked 24×7, even during the pandemic, and now it is structurally complete,” informed an official of the Metro Railway.
The station’s location was altered multiple times until being finalised in 2020. Soon after the finalisation, the ITD Cementation began its construction. The station building, which spans 22,238 square metres, includes five platforms, an underground railway yard and a concourse level. The platforms are 12 metres below earth and the station complex has 22 escalators, 12 lifts and seven entrances. To reach the arrival or departure level, passengers will have to use the escalator or lift.
The station is connected to Jessore Road and the airport terminal by two pedestrian subways. The one connecting the airport will have world-class amenities such as automatic travelators. “The 85mx2m automatic travelators will allow flyers to access the station with their luggage. Two lifts and two escalators will be made exclusive for airport-bound passengers,” a metro official claimed as per Times of India.
The station was originally intended to be elevated near the now-defunct Circular Railway line. However, the Airports Authority of India opposed it, claiming that the building would jeopardise flight safety. That’s when the decision was made to develop an underground station.
Earlier, travellers would have had to walk around 500 metres to reach the airport terminal, but now it will only be 150 metres. The station complex will have an underground yard with space for three to four trains and fundamental maintenance facilities as well.
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