Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro has become the country's first metro train to undertake an underwater journey. It undertook its first maiden under-river journey through a tunnel in the Hooghly river from Mahakaran to Howrah on Wednesday. Flowers were sprinkled and coconuts were broken to welcome the rakes at Howrah station.

General Manager, Metro Rail, P Uday Kumar Reddy along with other senior officials of metro rail and the Kolkata Rail Corporation Limited travelled from Mahakaran to Howrah Maiden station on rake no. 613. The train crossed Hooghly river around 11:55 am on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. After reaching Howrah station, Uday Kumar performed a puja  to mark the successful journey.

General Manager Reddy termed it a historic event and said that the trial runs on the 4.8 km section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will be conducted for seven months, after which the metro service on this route will be made available to the public. He also thanked all engineers and officials of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited on achieving this engineering marvel feat.

Chief Public Relations Officer of Metro Rail Kaushik Mitra said that this is a historic moment for Metro Railway as we have overcome many hurdles to successfully run rakes under Hooghly river. He further said that it is indeed a revolutionary step towards providing a modern transport system to the people of Kolkata. He called this a gift from the Indian Railway to the people of ‘City of Joy’.

The metro is expected to cover the 520 meter stretch under the river in 45 seconds. The tunnel is 33 meters above the water level. Trial runs on the 4.8-km underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will soon begin. Esplanade, Mahakaran, Howrah and Howrah Maidan are the four stations. Once this stretch opens, Howrah will become the country's deepest metro station.

India’s first underwater metro rail connects the Howrah station complex on the western bank of the Hooghly river to American Ghat on the eastern bank. /BI/