In the year 1949, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. B. C. Roy, requested a team of French experts to consider the feasibility of an underground Rapid Transit System. Two lines, east-west and north-south, were recommended despite expected problems of working through the prevalent soil structure.

The project, which began in the early 1970s, took two decades and a whopping Rs 17,060 to become a reality. The government had to acquire 178 acres of land from private parties and many new technologies were used for the first time to give the right shape to this project.

Despite all odds, India's first, Asia's fifth and the world's 85th underground railway began commercial operations on October 24, 1984. Initially, there was only partial service for the five stations from Esplanade to Bhowanipur, a distance of 3.4 km.The entire Esplanade-Tollygunge (9.97 km) south section started operations from April 1986 and part operations on the Dum Dum-Shayambazar stretch began only in August 1994. The services of end-to-end travel in the city in 33 minutes began on September 27, 1995.

According to the data available for the year 1998-99, 142 trains, consisting of eight coaches with a gross capacity of around 2,500 persons each, run from 0700 to 2200 hours every weekday at intervals of 10 minutes at peak times. In 1998-99, there were a total of 58 million passengers as compared to the 1.47 million in 1984-85 and 69.14 million in 1997-98.

The distinctly noticeable fall in usage from 1997-98 to 1998-99 can be attributed to the city's central business district getting dispersed, the industrial/economic scenario being on a steady downswing and increase in ticket prices.

Beauty and safety were high on the priority list of important to the Metro authorities. Beautifully laid roads and done up gardens, designer interiors for each station, mobile art galleries within coaches, all give the Metro a warm and wonderful touch.

A northerly extension of the Metro on elevated tracks from Dum Dum to Barrackpore is being considered and Railway India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) has been awarded the feasibility study at a cost of Rs. 2.47 million. A proposal for a link to the airport (aerial distance 5.7 km) has also been sent to the concerned authorities.

No reference to the Calcutta Metro can be complete without a mention of contribution of the people of the city who suffered silently when it was being made. They now make efforts to keep it very clean, systematic and comfortable. But most of all they take great pride in it as their own.