Click to play videoKolkata: Twelve years after it was commissioned, Kolkata’s 16.5 km long Metro rail still runs at whopping operating loss of over Rs 70 crore a year.
But that didn't deter the Union government from extending the service by another nine kilometers.
The extension, now under construction on the southern fringes of Kolkata, is expected to cost around Rs 1,000 crore.
And though funds were sanctioned some seven years ago, litigation over land acquisition delayed construction and the track is unlikely to be ready until the end of next year.
While the north-south track is being extended, the West Bengal government has mooted a proposal to build an east-west link.
The link will need to have a tunnel passing below the Hoogli, the river that separates Kolkata from the fast expanding town of Howrah.
The proposed nine-kilometer east-west link is estimated to cost around Rs 6,000 crore, and the Bengal government has roped in Japan Bank for International Cooperation to lend up to Rs 4,500 crore for it.
The government also proposes to construct it in less than five years, and because any big project in Bengal now calls for consensus amongst political parties.
The Japanese bank has been asked to make a presentation to policymakers and elected representatives from all political parties on the first of June.
And while the brainstorming goes on, people who commute from Howrah and Kolkata everyday keep fingers firmly crossed.
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