Kolkata Metro: Yellow Line’s Airport–Barasat Stretch Set For Alignment Overhaul With Tunnel-Boring Machines

Kolkata’s Yellow Line metro corridor from the airport to Barasat, long delayed due to technical and logistical challenges, is set for a significant realignment as Metro Railway plans to deploy tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) between Michael Nagar and Barasat, Times of India reported.

The move aims to sidestep the use of tall cranes, previously flagged by airport authorities as a flight safety hazard and address the problem of encroachments along the New Barrackpore–Barasat stretch.

Originally, the section from the airport to New Barrackpore was to be built using the cut-and-cover method, with the remainder elevated.

Switching to TBMs will minimise surface disruption and enable a deeper, non-invasive underground alignment.

If approved by the Railways Ministry, the Noapara–Barasat corridor will extend from 18 km to 22 km and gain three additional stations beyond Barasat.

Metro Railway has tasked consultancy firm RITES with conducting a feasibility study for the revised alignment, which would result in nine stations across the 12 km Michael Nagar–Barasat underground section.

Barasat Municipality chairman Ashani Mukherjee confirmed that “topographical survey and geo-technical investigations are ongoing in the Madhyamgram and Barasat municipal areas for further extension of the Yellow Line and revision of construction methodology.”

The alignment would run parallel to Jessore Road, passing beneath low-rise buildings, Vidyasagar Stadium, Kachhari Maidan, Barasat DM’s office, and the Barasat EMU car shed at Jaypur.

Proposed stations include Michael Nagar, Bidhanpally, Madhyamgram, Hridaypur, Vidyasagar Stadium, Barasat, Uttar Seethi, Jaypur, and Suripukur.

The development comes just a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected inauguration of the first Yellow Line phase from Noapara to the airport.

Also Read: Kolkata Set To Get Three New Metro Stretches, PM Modi To Flag Off Services