Kolkata’s Orange Line metro services between Beleghata and the IT Centre will operate for shorter hours from Tuesday as authorities conduct tests for the planned extension towards Sector V, temporarily reducing early-morning and evening availability for passengers.
The current commercial service window on the Orange Line is from 7:40 am to 9:08 pm. From Tuesday, trains will run from 8:40 am to 8:18 pm, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. The revised schedule reduces service at both ends of the operating day by one hour.
The change has been introduced to allow trial operations and other safety-related examinations on the section between Beleghata and the IT Centre. Trial train operations on this section began on October 10. The metro authority has said that the reduced commercial hours will help complete the testing work without disruption.
A trial run on the extended section from Beleghata to Sector V was conducted on Saturday and was reported to have been successful. The proposed route will include Gour Kishore Ghosh, Nalban and Sector V metro stations. The extension is expected to connect Kavi Subhash, also known as New Garia, directly with Sector V once passenger services begin.
The planned service launch is linked to the Christmas period in December, but passenger operations will begin only after the required clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety. The successful trial run is therefore an important operational milestone, but it does not by itself constitute approval to open the extension to the public.
The Orange Line schedule change comes shortly before Durga Puja, when Kolkata’s metro network is expected to handle higher passenger demand. The metro authority has separately planned extended services on the Blue and Green lines during the festival period.
On the Blue Line, services will run at six-minute intervals during busy periods, while trains on the Green Line will run every eight minutes. The Blue Line will operate 284 trains on Panchami and Shashthi, with services beginning at 6 am and the last train scheduled for 11 pm.
The Green Line is scheduled to operate 240 trains on Panchami and Shashthi. Because Saptami falls on two days this year, both the Blue and Green lines will provide overnight services on the two Saptami days, Ashtami and Navami.
From October 17 to October 20, Blue Line services will run from 1 pm until 4 am the following day. Green Line services will operate from 1:30 pm until 3:59 am the following day. While these extended services will support festival travel on the two corridors, Orange Line passengers will have to account for the shorter operating window until the safety testing work is completed.
The next formal milestone for the Orange Line extension is the safety clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety, after which the metro authority can determine the start of passenger services.
