Kolkata Metro Expands to Five Routes Since 1984 Launch

Kolkata holds a settled place in India's transport history as the home of the country's first metro. The idea of an underground railway for the city was conceived in the mid-twentieth century, and after a long planning process construction began in the early 1970s.

The 1984 opening

The first stretch of the Kolkata Metro opened in 1984, running between Esplanade and Bhowanipur. It was the first metro line in India, and the corridor was gradually extended over the following years and decades. Official material notes the system was planned as a rail-based answer to transport needs that road traffic alone could not meet.

The network now

The metro has since grown into a system of colour-coded lines serving Kolkata and its wider metropolitan region, with dozens of operational stations and a network length in the region of seventy kilometres. It uses a mix of underground, at-grade and elevated stations and runs on a 750 volt direct-current third-rail supply.

One of the more significant recent additions is the East-West corridor, the Green Line, which connects the Howrah and Sealdah sides of the river. A section of it opened in 2020, and the corridor includes a passage beneath the Hooghly river, described as the country's first underwater rail crossing.

Using it as a visitor

For residents and visitors alike, the metro is often the fastest way to move north to south through a congested city. Trains run through the day into the late evening. Because lines have opened in stages and some remain under extension, anyone planning a journey across newer corridors should confirm the current operating stations and hours before travelling.