Kolkata Metro Line 3

Line 3 (Purple Line) is a rapid transit metro line of the Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. A 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) stretch from Joka to Taratala of this line was inaugurated on 30 December 2022^[3][4] and after extended to Majerhat on 6 March 2024.^[5] This line will span 15.08 kilometres (9.37 mi) from Joka in the south to Esplanade in the north with a future southward extension of 3.39 kilometres (2.11 mi) to Diamond Park from Joka.^[6] It will connect Blue Line at Park Street in central Kolkata and run in parallel with Blue Line up to Esplanade where it will connect with Green Line also. Line 3 is being built by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.

Kolkata Metro Line 3 ---- Purple Line
Line 3 viaduct along the Diamond Harbour road
Overview
Status	Phase 1 - Operational Phase 2 - Under Construction Phase 3 - Planned
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Kolkata Metropolitan Region, India
Termini	• Diamond Park (South) • Esplanade (North)
Connecting lines	Blue Line Green Line
Stations	14 ___ 07 (operational) 05 (under construction) 02 (planned)
Website	Indian Railways
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Kolkata Metro
Operator(s)	Metro Railway, Kolkata
Depot(s)	Joka Metro Depot
Rolling stock	ICF\MEDHA
Daily ridership	615
History
Opened	30 December 2022; 22 months ago (2022-12-30)
Last extension	6 March 2024; 8 months ago (2024-03-06)
Technical
Line length	18.47 km (11.48 mi) -Operational:7.75 km (4.82 mi) -Under Construction:7.33 km (4.55 mi) -Planned:3.39 km (2.11 mi)[1]
Number of tracks	2
Character	elevated and underground
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	750 V DC using third rail[2]
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph) (designed)
Signalling	CBTC signalling
Route map Legend Esplanade Blue Line Green Line Park Street Blue Line Blue Line (Line 1) Victoria Tolly Canal Khidirpur Mominpur Majerhat Majerhat Taratala Behala Bazar Behala Chowrasta Sakher Bazar Thakurpukur Joka Joka depot IIM Calcutta Diamond Park

Development

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the Joka-Majerhat stretch of Purple Line of Kolkata Metro on December 30, 2022.

Around 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) of the project will be elevated and the rest of 6.32 kilometres (3.93 mi) of the metro line will be underground.^[4] The project is getting delayed due to nonavailability of land for the construction of train depot at Joka. In 2019, RVNL was given the land required for building the depot and the construction for its boundary wall and land development started in February 2019.^[7] Tenders for its construction and plant & machinery were invited in April 2020.^[8]

Construction was further delayed in September 2018 due to the Majerhat Bridge collapse, the metro was being built right next to the bridge.

Tender for Majherhat to Esplanade underground section has been floated in 1st week of December 2019.

By 15 September 2022, the stretch from Joka to Taratala has been fully constructed and electrification has been done. Testing trials are underway from Joka to Taratala using the old decommissioned Metro Rakes. Eventually in service there will be new air conditioned metro rakes. The stretch from Majerhat to Esplanade is under construction.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Joka-Taratala stretch, including Joka metro station of Kolkata Metro's Purple Line on 30 December 2022 in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Some students from schools especially St Thomas Boys School, whose premises are utilised for planned Khidirpur metro station in this stretch, were granted the rare opportunity to be the first ones to ride in this Joka-Taratala stretch after the inauguration.^[9][10][11]

After lot of hardships and developmental work the Taratala-Majerhat section of Kolkata Metro Line 3 was inaugurated on 6 March 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the truncated sections of Esplanade-Howrah Maidan under Line 2 and Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay under Line 6.^[12] The Mominpur-Esplanade section is expected to be open in 2028. ^[13]

List of stations

Main article: List of Kolkata metro stations

The work has been sanctioned in 2010-11 for the new Metro line from Joka to B.B.D. Bagh for a length of 16.72 km (10.39 mi) at an anticipated cost of Rs. 2619.02 Crores. But, later the route was shortened and planned to terminate at Esplanade. A separate Depot was built by RVNL in Joka. The tender has gone to Simplex Infrastructures. The extension of this line to IIM and Diamond Park for 2 km (1.2 mi) has been sanctioned in the Budget of 2012–13 at a cost of Rs. 294.49 Cr. The execution of this work has been entrusted to RVNL.

There are 3 phases in this line-

• Joka to Majherhat (Operational)
• Majherhat to Esplanade (Under construction)
• Diamond Park to Joka (Planned)

Line 3 (Purple Line)
No.	Station Name		Location	Phase	Opening	Connections	Layout	Coordinates	Notes
	English	Bengali
1	Diamond Park	ডায়মন্ড পার্ক	Joka	3	Planned	Vivekananda Mission School Bus Stop	Elevated
2	IIM Calcutta	আইআইএম
3	Joka	জোকা	Joka	1A	Operational	Joka bus Depot Diamond Park Bus Stop	Elevated		Also known as Diamond Park
4	Thakurpukur	ঠাকুরপুকুর	Thakurpukur			Thakurpukur Police Station Bus Stop Thakurpukur Bazar Bus Stand
5	Sakher Bazar	সখেরবাজার	Behala			Thakurpukur Bus Depot Silpara Bus Stop Behala Sakherbazar Minibus Stand Kadamtala Bus Stand			Also known as Silpara
6	Behala Chowrasta	বেহালা চৌরাস্তা				Behala Chowrasta Bus Stand
7	Behala Bazar	বেহালা বাজার				Behala Bazar Bus Stop
8	Taratala	তারাতলা	Taratala			Ajanta Cinema Bus Stop Taratala Bus Stand			Also known as Pathakpara
9	Majerhat	মাঝেরহাট	Majerhat	1B		Majerhat Station DH Road Mint Bus Stop Majherhat Gurudwara Bus Stop
10	Mominpur	মোমিনপুর	Mominpore	2A	Under Construction	Mominpore Bus Stop	Elevated
11	Khidirpur	খিদিরপুর	Kidderpore	2B		Khidderpore Bus Stop	Underground
12	Victoria	ভিক্টোরিয়া	Maidan			Victoria Memorial Bus Stop PG Hospital Bus Stop Birla Planetarium Bus Stop			Also known as Hastings
13	Park Street	পার্ক স্ট্রিট	Park Street			Blue Line • Park Street (U/C) ---- Park Street Bus Stop
14	Esplanade	এসপ্ল্যানেড	Esplanade			Blue Line • Esplanade Green Line • Esplanade ---- Esplanade Bus Terminus (WBTC,SBSTC,NBSTC) Esplanade Tram Depot			International Bus Terminus. Also known as Dharmatala / Chowringhee

Gallery

• 
  ICF Medha rake MR 418 on the day of inauguration of line 3 at Joka metro station
• The day of inauguration of phase 1

See also

• List of Kolkata metro stations
• Kolkata Metro Rolling Stock
• 2018 Kolkata bridge collapse
• Kolkata Suburban Railway

References

1. "Kolkata Metro Map".
2. "CAF to supply Kolkata metro trains". Railway Gazette. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
3. "Kolkata Metro: First glimpse of Joka-Taratala route in pics". mint. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
4. Bandyopadhyay, Krishnendu; Chakraborty, Ajanta (10 June 2019). "Kolkata: Work on fast track as East-West Metro eyes new links in next two years | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
5. "PM Modi unveils multiple metro projects, including Kolkata underwater corridor". The Hindu. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
6. "Kolkata Metro Line 3".
7. Bandyopadhyay, Krishnendu (1 March 2019). "Work begins at Joka Metro depot, wall built | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
8. "RVNL Invites Bids for Kolkata Metro Line-3's Joka Depot". The Metro Rail Guy. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
9. "Kolkata Metro: First glimpse of Joka-Taratala route in pics". www.livemint.com. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
10. "In-pics: Inaugration of Vande Bharat Express, Joka-Taratala Metro & more news from Kolkata". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
11. "Another school demands Metro route tweak". The Times of India. 18 December 2020. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
12. "Hope for ops start of three new Metro links in March first week". The Times of India. 19 February 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
13. MP, Team (10 October 2023). "RVNL targets completion of Majerhat to Esplanade Metro stretch within 48 months". www.millenniumpost.in. Retrieved 17 March 2024.