Patna Metro First Phase: Bihar’s capital Patna is joining the list of Indian cities with a metro as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will inaugurate the first phase of the Patna Metro on Monday. The 3.6-km elevated section, called the ‘Blue Line,’ will connect three important stations Patliputra Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT), Zero Mile, and Bhoothnath.
The metro project is built by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) with support from the Bihar government. Officials said the metro will help reduce traffic congestion and give people a faster, cleaner, and safer way to travel in the city.
The first phase is part of Corridor-II, which will stretch 14.5 km connecting Patna Junction to ISBT. This corridor will have five elevated and seven underground stations.
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Once it starts Patna will become the 24th city in India to have an operational metro rail system. On Sunday, Patna DM Thiyagrajan SM, City SP (East) Parichay Kumar, traffic SP Aprajit Lohan, and DMRC and Patna Metro Rail Corporation officials inspected the Bhoothnath station ahead of the inauguration.
Officials said, “The inauguration will happen around 11am at the ISBT depot. The CM will travel on the metro train up to Bhoothnath. The three-coach train will then continue to ISBT and return to the depot via Bhoothnath” reported TOI. The trains will run at 40 kmph, and the metro will be open for public use from Tuesday, operating from 8am to 10pm. Tickets will cost between Rs15 and Rs30, and people can get metro cards or tokens from the stations.
Modern Coaches
The metro coaches can seat 158 passengers including 12 reserved seats for women and differently-abled people, and can hold up to 940 standing passengers. The coaches have charging points for phones and laptops, emergency doors, and sliding doors for safety. Each coach is decorated with Bihar’s cultural motifs like Golghar, Mahavir Mandir, and Buddha in saffron colors. The metro stations are equipped with escalators and good stairways, ticket machines, digital displays, and platform screen doors for safety.
Concourse areas will have waiting zones, information kiosks, food courts, shops, and baggage check facilities. The depot at Ramachak Bairiya, covering 76 acres, will also open. It can hold up to 32 three-coach trains and has two workshop bays, three inspection bays, eight stabling bays, an automated washing unit, an operations control centre, and a sub-station. Other stations on the elevated corridor, Malahi Pakri and Khemnichak, will start operating by the end of 2025.
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Project Challenges
The full priority corridor is 6.5 km long, while the underground section of Corridor-II is 8.08 km, including stations at Patna Junction, Akashvani, Gandhi Maidan, PMCH, Patna University, Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, and Rajendra Nagar. The Patna Metro project, costing Rs13,925 crore, has been under construction since 2019. The project faced delays due to land acquisition issues, lack of funds, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Corridor-I, from Danapur to Khemnichak, which is 17.9 km, is also under construction alongside the underground part of Corridor-II.
