Kolkata Metro Railway held the first trial run on the Beleghata–IT Centre section of the Orange Line on Saturday 10 October 2026, the day of Mahalaya, starting the testing of the line’s communication-based train control system, known as CBTC. In a post quoted by ThePrint, Kolkata Metro called it “a major milestone for Metro Railway Kolkata” and said the trial run marked “the commencement of CBTC system trials”.
ThePrint reported that the section is 3.5 kilometres long. A separate report by UrbanAcres, dated 9 October, said that charging of the third rail, the conductor rail that supplies traction power, had begun on a 10-kilometre stretch between Beleghata and Sector V, and that three new stations, Gour Kishore Ghosh, Nalban and Sector V, would be added. The two figures describe different things: the first trial covered the first part of the extension, while the power supply was switched on over the longer section. Readers should therefore treat the lengths as reported by each outlet and not as a single official figure.
The Orange Line, also called Line 6, connects the southern suburb of New Garia with the airport corridor in the north-east. Kolkata Metro has opened the line in stages: according to a Wikipedia summary, the Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section was commissioned in March 2024 and services on the Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to Beleghata stretch started in August 2025. ThePrint described the full line as 32 kilometres, while UrbanAcres said that the operating section between Kavi Subhas and Beleghata is about 9 kilometres and would exceed 15 kilometres with the new extension. The 32-kilometre figure appears to refer to the planned full corridor.
Why was the extension stalled? ThePrint said that construction remained stuck for months because of a stalemate between the Centre and the previous Trinamool Congress government over police clearance for work at the Chingrighata crossing. After the BJP came to power in May, police granted clearance, allowing builders to finish the work at the crossing over weekends. The change has moved the project forward after a long delay, and the trial run is the first visible sign of it on the Beleghata side of the line.
What does it mean for commuters? Once operational, the section will connect the Salt Lake Sector V information technology hub with Garia, which ThePrint said would reduce commutes that now take more than an hour and a half at peak times. The line would also come closer to New Town, with an eventual extension to the airport. UrbanAcres noted that Sector V to City Centre II is targeted for December 2027 and the final phase for mid-2028.
The next steps are regulatory. The Commissioner of Railway Safety must inspect the extension after the trial runs before passenger services can begin. UrbanAcres reported that officials are aiming at commercial operations around Christmas but said that this “remains a target rather than a confirmed opening date”. IndiaX24 will report when the safety inspection is scheduled and when passenger services are announced. The opening date will matter to the thousands of daily commuters who use the corridor to Sector V.
Featured image: An Orange Line train of Kolkata Metro on an elevated section (file photo, August 2025). Photo by Narendra Modi, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
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