Kolkata Creates History With A Successful Test Run Of India's First Underwater Metro

Kolkata creates history with a successful test run of India’s first underwater metro

The Kolkata Metro made history in 1984 as the first city in India to introduce Metro services. Now, 39 years later, the Kolkata Metro has achieved another milestone as it embarked on its first underwater journey through a tunnel under the Hooghly River, traveling from Mahakaran to Howrah.

Kolkata Metro creates History!For the first time in India,a Metro rake ran under any river today!Regular trial runs from #HowrahMaidan to #Esplanade will start very soon. Shri P Uday Kumar Reddy,General Manager has described this run as a historic moment for the city of #Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/sA4Kqdvf0v

— Metro Rail Kolkata (@metrorailwaykol) April 12, 2023

MTP

Metro system

Number of stations: 40 (Operational); 43 (Under Construction); 16 (Planned)
Founded: 1984
Operator(s): Metro Railway, Kolkata
Daily ridership: Over 700,000
Line number: Operational:Blue Line Green Line Purple Line Under construction:Yellow Line Orange Line Planned: Pink Line
Area served: Kolkata Metropolitan Area
Owners: Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, Metro Railway, Kolkata

The General Manager of Metro Rail, P Uday Kumar Reddy, and other senior officials of Metro Rail and the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited made the journey from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station on rake no-613. The successful journey was completed at around 11:55 am on Wednesday (April 12), and Uday Kumar performed a puja to commemorate the occasion.

Uday Kumar hailed the event as historic and announced that trial runs on the 4.8km section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade would be conducted for seven months before the Metro service on this route is opened to the public. He thanked all the staff and engineers of KMRCL who had worked hard to make the engineering marvel a reality.

Kausik Mitra, CPRO of Metro Rail, said, “This is a historic moment for Metro Railway as after overcoming many hurdles, we have succeeded in running 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 the Indian Railways to the people of Bengal.”

Commercial services on this stretch are expected to begin this year, and once this happens, Howrah will become the deepest Metro station in the country, at a depth of 33 meters below the surface. The Metro will take only 45 seconds to cover the 520-meter stretch under the Hooghly river.

After the trial run is completed, the Metro service will be opened to the public from Howrah Maidan station to Saltlake Sector V on a regular basis. This will help reduce traffic congestion and allow people to reach their desired destinations quickly and efficiently using the Metro service.