Kolkata: The long-delayed Baranagar-Barrackpore metro corridor, known as the Pink Line, has finally entered the construction bidding stage. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited has invited bids to build 10 elevated stations and a viaduct on the route, with an estimated contract value of about Rs 1,587 crore.
The package covers the stretch from Baranagar, which is not part of this tender because it already exists on the Blue Line, to Mangal Pandey station at Barrackpore. The contractor will have 42 months to finish the work. The bidding window closed on September 29, so the process is now at the evaluation stage.
The corridor is about 12.5 km long and runs along BT Road. It was sanctioned around 2009-10 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,069 crore, but made little progress for years. The main hurdle was the large water supply pipelines buried under the road, which needed to be shifted or protected before any pillar work could start. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation recently issued a no-objection certificate, which cleared the way for the tender.
The stations named in reports include Kamarhati, Agarpara, Panihati, Sodepur, Khardah, Tata Gate, Titagarh, Talpukur and Barrackpore. Station lists differ slightly between reports, and the final names and locations may change.
For commuters in the northern suburbs, the line would offer a direct metro link to the main Kolkata Metro network through Baranagar. Daily travellers on BT Road, one of the busiest roads in the region, have waited more than a decade for it.
A tender is not the start of construction. The bids must be evaluated, a contractor selected and an agreement signed, and then the physical work begins. No official opening date has been announced.
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