THE "NATIVE" CALCUTTA METRO
*LETTER TO THE HINDU FROM SHRI M. SESHAGIRI RAO, RETIRED MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHAIRMAN OF RITES * * THE "NATIVE" CALCUTTA METRO The 20km long Calcutta Metro Railway completes its 25 years next month, unwept, unhonoured and unsung. It has never had a derailment, no fatality or no structural collapses. It carries 4.2 lakh passengers a day that is three times of the Delhi Metro which is more than thrice as long. It is faster too. Almost the entire length of Calcutta Metro lies below sea level and the construction was done entirely by Indian Railway Engineers without a single Foreign Consultant or Foreign Contractor. There are no unsightly massive Viaducts casting ugly shadows over the Historical Boulevards. Visitors traveling by car are not even aware that there are trains running below them under Chowringhee, Chittaranjan Avenue or Shambazar. The tunnels and underground stations are air-conditioned and the trains carry the cool air with them. The moving trains are not burdened with air-conditioning equipment which adds 20% to the weight and 50% to the cost. These Spartan coaches were not airlifted from Germany amidst pomposity and fanfare. They were all built by the ICF/Perambur and hauled to Calcutta over Rails. They cost, at present day prices, a fourth of what Delhi Metro coaches cost. The tickets cost about the same as Buses and not thrice as much. Let the rest of the Country think what they like, the Calcuttans are proud of their "Paatal Railway" which they use very intensively. For the much-maligned City, there is neither graffiti nor a speck of trash on the Calcutta Metro.*
