Ansaldo STS has won a contract worth €46 million from Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) for the new East West Line in Kolkata, West Bengal India.
Under the contract, Ansaldo will undertake the design, construction and implementation into service of the new line.
Ansaldo will also be responsible for the signalling and telecommunication systems of the new KMRCL East West Line (EWL) in the metropolitan city of Kolkata.
The new East West Line will be 14.7 km long and will intersect the existing North-South line (16.5 km long, with 24 stations), linking the town of Howrah with city of Kolkata.
5.8 km of the line will be elevated, and 8.9 km underground, including a 550-metre stretch under the river Hooghly.
There will be 12 new stations, comprising of six underground and six elevated.
The line will run between Ramrajatala and Saltlake Sector V connecting the existing metro corridor.
It will also have a connectivity point to new Joka-BBD Bag line.
The $ 1.1 billion (Rs 4,874) EWL project is being funded by Indian Railways with majority stakes and the reamining balance is loaned from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC).
Trains will be air conditioned and underground stations will be equipped with platform screen doors.
It will run on standard gauge, unlike line 1, which uses broad gauge.
In December 2010, the Kolkata Metro became the 17th zone of Indian Railways and on January 2011, KMRC and the entire East West metro corridor were taken over by the Ministry of Railways from the Ministry of Urban development and the state Government of West Bengal.
