India’s First Underwater Metro Service Starts In Kolkata - Everything You Need To Know About It

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and took a ride, alongside several school kids in India's first underground metro. The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section, an innovative and groundbreaking addition to Kolkata's transportation network and touted to be the first transportation tunnel "under any mighty river in India", will have the deepest metro station in the country -- the Howrah Metro station. Hooghly river, which separates the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, will have this metro station.

Example of engineering ingenuity

• The idea of having an underwater transportation system on the lines of London was first mooted by the British in 1921, but it did not see the light of the day as the soil test results were not favourable. The idea was again pushed in the 1980s by then Railway Minister ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury.
• Kolkata Metro touched a milestone in April 2023 as its rakes completed a trial journey under the bed of Hooghly through a tunnel 32 metre below the water level for the first time in India.

How will this help Kolkata?

• Spanning a 4.8-km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade, it forms a vital segment of the East-West Metro corridor, connecting key areas such as the IT hub Salt Lake Sector V.
• According to a statement issued by the Metro Railway, the 4.8-km stretch of East-West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade has been built at a cost of Rs 4,965 crore. The statement also said that this corridor will also solve the perennial traffic congestion and improve air quality by reducing carbon footprint.

• As a Metro train is expected to traverse the 520-metre stretch under the river in just 45 seconds, it not only offers speed but also ensures a seamless and time-efficient mode of transportation, further enhancing Kolkata's connectivity and urban mobility.