As Kolkata got its first underground Metro station in 25 years as Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently flagged off the first train from Phoolbagan in an online event. Phoolbagan, is the first underground Metro station along the 16.5 km East-West Metro route, which will connect Howrah Maidan to New Town in the northeastern fringes of Kolkata. The services of East-West Metro to Phoolbagan will be open for public. The East-West Metro was commissioned by Goyal in 2008.
The first phase of the East-West Metro station from Salt Lake Sector V to Salt Lake Stadium was opened on February 13. The entire 1.6-km stretch from Salt Lake Stadium Station to Phoolbagan Station with a standard gauge double line was completed on June 12. Phoolbagan station bears special significance because of its proximity to the Sealdah railway station. Opening of Phoolbagan station will facilitate a large number of commuters to go to the IT Hub in Salt Lake Sector 5, International Bus Terminal and Mela Ground in Karunamoyee, important government offices at Central Park besides the famous Salt Lake football stadium. The travel time from PhoolBagan to Salt Lake Sector 5 by Metro will be 16 minutes, as per reports. The total length of this project is 16.5 km and the total estimated project cost is Rs 8,574.98 crore.