Life in a Metro: Kolkata metro, Tollygunge station

From the archive record

KOLKATA METRO – THE 1ST METRO SYSTEM IN INDIA The initiative had to wait for 2 decades when in 1969 the Metropolitan Transport Project was initiated. The master plan prepared by them in 1971 envisaged a network of 97.50 km consisting of three North-South corridors of which three were selected for detailed planning. These three lines were Dumdum – Tollygunge, Bidhannager – Ramrajatala and Dakshineswar – Thakurpukur. Based on traffic studies, the Dumdum – Tollygunge corridor was first selected for implementation and work started on 29th December 1972. On 24th October 1984, the first stretch, a length of about 3.4 km between Esplanade and Bhowanipur was completed, the first metro line in India. Over the years, others stretch on the corridor were gradually completed and some extensions were al