Suburban Railways, Commuting, and Metropolitan Expansion

Abstract

The role of suburban commuting i.e. commuting from peripheral urban areas to city core, in the growth and development of metropolitan areas has traditionally been overlooked. The same is true for Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Existing bodies of research on suburban expansion of KMA focus on the decentralized planning, increasing land values and consequent shortage of housing, urban pollution, lower liveability, etc., as the major factors behind its suburban expansion. The important role played by suburban railways and the enhanced facilities of commuting have not attracted as much attention despite their immense contributions to the development of this metropolitan region. This chapter investigates the role of suburban train commuting in the metropolitan development of Kolkata. Based on both primary and secondary data, and using indicators such as suburban passenger data, number of suburban local trains and growth of suburban railway infrastructures, this chapter reveals that in the immediate post-Independence period, KMA experienced a more diffused pattern of urban development. The chapter explains how commuting has changed the entire landscape by attracting people from interior rural areas to settle along the suburban rail routes, following which an integrated metropolitan area of Kolkata has developed.