🚲 Mobility

Green Line CBTC Signalling & Automatic Train Operation (Kolkata Metro)

India's oldest metro network added Communications-Based Train Control to its newest corridor, the Green Line (East-West Line), which opened in phases from March 2024 and includes a 520-metre tunnel under the Hooghly River. Hitachi Rail STS India built the CBTC system to Grade of Automation 2 for KMRC — trains run under continuous automatic protection and operation, but a driver stays aboard to close doors and start the train, not the fully "driverless" service some 2026 coverage implies. Metro Railway, Kolkata has been trial-running Automatic Train Operation on the corridor since August 2025, and the Commissioner of Railway Safety carried out a final inspection in July 2026 — but as of that inspection, formal clearance to actually run in automatic mode was still pending.

Live 📅 since 2024

🤖 AI-generated summary of the sources below — how this works · 🔎 Last verified 2026-08-02

🚲 Mobility Public transport Sensors & IoT

🎓 Lesson

A metro line can run for years on automation-ready signalling before it is actually cleared to operate automatically — the infrastructure and the safety certification are different projects with different timelines.

Scale🏙️ City-wide

📖 Terms in this entry: Adaptive traffic signals · Bus rapid transit (BRT) · CBTC (communications-based train control)

Sources

↗ CRS conducts final safety inspection for driverless operations on Kolkata's Howrah Maidan-Sector V corridor ahead of ATO rolloutConfirms ATO trials running since August 2025 on the Howrah Maidan-Sealdah stretch and a CRS final safety inspection around July 2026, with clearance still pending

↗ Kolkata Metro's East-West Corridor Begins CBTC Signalling WorkConfirms CBTC signalling work covers the full Howrah Maidan to Sector V stretch, underway by January 2025

↗ Tracks of Progress & Sustainability: Unveiling India's First Underwater Metro (Hitachi Rail)Hitachi Rail STS India's own description of the system as Grade of Automation Level 2, and its role delivering signalling/telecom for KMRC

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed above and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

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Compare this project

🇮🇳 Hyderabad Metro CBTC Signalling · Hyderabad Both Indian metros run CBTC without full unattended operation — compare Grade of Automation levels and how each stayed short of driverless. 🇮🇳 Chennai Metro Phase II Driverless (GoA4) Signalling · Chennai Contrast: Chennai's Phase II is contracted for GoA4 unattended operation, while Kolkata's Green Line still awaits clearance for auto mode. 🇮🇳 Pune Metro's CBTC Signalling (Lines 1 & 2) · Pune Another Indian CBTC rollout — Pune's Aqua Line got its first signalled section running years before Kolkata's Green Line CBTC trial began. 🇯🇵 Higashiyama & Sakura-dori Line Automatic Train Operation · Nagoya Same shape, different mode: Kolkata added CBTC to its oldest metro's newest line; Nagoya added ATO to its original 1957 line.

Explore the wider context

🚦 Asphalt or algorithms 🚌 Public transport guide 🏙️ Kolkata city profile 🚲 Mobility projects

📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Green Line CBTC Signalling & Automatic Train Operation (Kolkata Metro)” — Kolkata, India. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/kolkata-metro-green-line-cbtc-ato/ (last verified 2026-08-02). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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