Kolkata Metro achieved a significant engineering milestone with the successful breakthrough of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) 'Durga' on the Purple Line at Victoria metro station. This breakthrough completed a section of the underground tunnel between Khidirpur and Victoria on the Joka-Esplanade corridor. Tunnelling on this stretch had begun on 10 July 2025, meaning the work was completed within a year.

The Joka-Esplanade corridor will connect the southern parts of Kolkata to the city's central commercial area. It is expected to significantly improve east-west connectivity within the city, cutting down travel time for commuters and easing congestion on Kolkata's roads.

This achievement follows the earlier bridging of a 62-metre viaduct gap at Chingrighata on the Kavi Subhash-Airport corridor, also known as the Orange Line, which had been a major obstacle in completing that line.

Following the breakthrough, Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewed the progress of Kolkata's metro expansion projects during a visit to the city. He travelled on the metro and interacted with commuters to understand their experience of the services. During the visit, he announced that around 60 new-generation metro trains would be inducted over the next four to five years.

The minister also noted that since 2014, about 45 kilometres of new metro network has been made operational in and around Kolkata, compared to just 28 kilometres of network that existed before 2014, highlighting the pace of expansion in recent years.