Kolkata Metro rolls under river Hooghly in India’s first under-water journey

“P Uday Kumar Reddy, General Manager, Kolkata Metro Railway travelled from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station in Rake No. MR-612 to witness this historic event. This rake crossed river Hooghly at 11:55 hrs. Shri H. N. Jaiswal Additional General Manager, Metro Railway and MD, KMRCL as well as other senior officers of Metro Railway and KMRCL accompanied him during this journey,” KMRCL said in a statement.

Later, Rake No MR- 613 was also taken to Howrah Maidan station. Terming it a historic event, General Manager has informed that the trial runs from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will be conducted for the next 7 months and after that regular services o­n this stretch will begin.

All the staff, engineers of KMRCL under whose efforts and supervision this engineering marvel has been achieved are happy that their dreams have come true.

Kausik Mitra, CPRO/Metro Railway has said that “This is a historic moment for Metro Railway as after overcoming many hurdles we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly river. This is a revolutionary step in providing a modern transport system to the people of Kolkata and suburbs. This is indeed a special new year gift from Indian Railways for the people of Bengal”.

As the two Metro rakes have been taken today to Howrah Maidan station from Esplanade station, soon the trial runs o­n the 4.8 kms underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will begin. It is expected that commercial services o­n this stretch will begin in this year. o­nce this stretch is open then Howrah will be the deepest Metro station (33-meter below surface) of the country. The Metro is expected to cover the 520 meters stretch under the river Hooghly in 45 seconds. This tunnel under the river is at 32 meter below from the water level.

Terming it a ‘historic event’, the Metro general manager said, “Trial runs between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade station will be conducted for the next seven months, following which regular services on this stretch will begin.” Trial runs on the 4.8 km stretch of the underground section will commence soon, the official said.

After this stretch becomes operational, Howrah Maidan will be the deepest Metro station – 33-metre below the surface – of the country.

The Metro is expected to cover the 520-metre stretch under the river Hooghly in 45 seconds, he said, adding that this tunnel under the river is 32 metres below the water surface level.

The East West Metro corridor connecting Howrah Maidan and Sector V, the Information Technology hub in Salt Lake, is partially operational – between Sealdah and Sector V stations.

Out of the 16.6 km length of East West Metro, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah Maidan and Phoolbagan with the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river, while the rest is elevated corridor, according to a KMRC official.