No Wellington station in new E-W route?

KOLKATA: Wellington (Subodh Mullick Square) station might be dropped from the alternative East-West Metro alignment.
RITES finds it an “unachievable task” to plan a station at Wellington Square as an alternative to Bowbazar station, say sources. The railways consultancy firm has been engaged by the state government to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for an alternative Salt Lake-Howrah Maidan route that would avoid land acquisition and construction both at Bowbazar and Brabourne Road.
If Wellington station is dropped, the next station after Sealdah would be Esplanade where the E-W line will link up with north-south Metro. After Esplanade, the next station proposed is Dalhousie (Mahakaran), likely to come up at the minibus stand on the east of Lal Dighi and to the south of Writers’ Buildings. After Mahakaran, the E-W track would be back on the original alignment.
According to RITES and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the biggest hurdle in constructing an underground station at Wellington Square is underground utilities — especially a British era water-boosting station and three G+7 buildings. “If we need to construct the stations, we have to raze three high-rises. Also, relocating the booster pumping station will disrupt water-supply in central Kolkata. The social cost will be too high,” said a KMC officer.
RITES has agreed with KMC and has proposed to drop Wellington Square station. At Esplanade, Curzon Park can be a perfect site for the station, needing no acquisition. Only the Army needs to give clearance. After the station is built, the park can be restored, said a RITES officer, allaying fears of loss of greenery.
The alternative alignment proposed by the state could offer a solution to the E-W Metro stalemate after land acquisition problems at Bowbazar and difficulty in getting traffic clearances at Brabourne Road made it tough to stick to the original route, say sources.
Calcutta high court has asked all stakeholders to get into action mode and achieve a breakthrough. It has asked stakeholders to check out the merit of the alternative alignment and financial implications of such a change.
According to RITES engineers, nearly 2 acre needs to be acquired at Bowbazar — a huge land parcel in the congested heart of Kolkata — since the tunnel boring machines from Sealdah and Howrah would meet here. This is where they would be lifted to the surface. Officials say it would be better to carry out this exercise at the BBD Bag minibus stand. A part of Lal Dighi might be used for this and can be restored after the station is built.
The alignment minus Wellington station is a viable alternative with the least land hurdles and traffic disruption, say officials. Moreover, Esplanade would be a junction for all three Metro-alignments — north-south, Joka-BBD Bag and east-west. Since there is a proven and expandable dispersal system in place at the surface level at Esplanade, it would act as perfect junction station, say RITES engineers.