India’s first underwater metro inaugurated by PM in Kolkata

India’s first ever underwater metro has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning in Kolkata. The Howrah Maidan- Esplanade metro is about 16.6 km long of which 10.8 km runs underground from Howrah to Phoolbagan. It connects the twin cities of Kolkata- Howrah and Salt Lake stretching over 4.8 km and is built at a cost of Rs. 4965 crore. The part of Esplanade and Sealdah is still under construction while the Sealdah- Salt Lake is functional. The East-West corridor between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake Sector V has been planned to start from June-July of this year.

The underwater metro consists of six stations, with three three of them underground. The metro covers the river stretch of 520 m in just 45 seconds. The ticket prices start from Rs.5 being the lowest and ranges to maximum Rs.50. An innovative system of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is used where the motorman presses a button to enable the train for advancing to the next station.

According to the Kolkata Metro officials the East-West metro corridor is the first ever underwater tunnel for transportation in India beneath the Hooghly river (520m long and 13 m below the river bed) and one of the deepest metro stations (the Howrah station), which is about 32 m deep below the ground. The underwater metro experienced its first trial journey in April 2023 making it a landmark in the history of Indian railways. Kolkata was in fact the first to introduce a metro system on October 24, 1984 in the country.

An official said that the interior of the tunnels are illuminated with blue lights to give the passengers an ambience of the underwater world and figures of about 40 illuminated fishes are set up on the interior walls. He added that they are also planning some special sound effects for the under-water section.

Origin of the idea of an underwater metro

The concept of an underwater transport system was first brought up by the British. BBC reports that Harley Dalrymple-Hay, a British engineer born in Bengal planned for an underground railway connecting Kolkata and Howrah including a tunnel under the River Hooghly and 10 stops in 1921. But the project did not come to effect due to funding issues and failed soil tests of the city.

A hindrance to the construction of the underwater metro

The project of Howrah Maidan- Esplanade metro was delayed because of an aquifer burst at Bowbazar in central Kolkata on August 19, 2019, which led to severe ground sinking and collapse of many buildings there. Moreover two water leakage incidents were also witnessed at the same site in 2022 while tunneling and construction work were going on. However after overcoming all the huddles the engineering marvel finally came to fruition.

PM Modi in the city

PM Modi unveiled multiple projects of metro rail as well as laid the foundation stone of various other developmental projects including a new metro corridor from Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, an extension of the Purple Line metro up to Majerhat, Pune Metro from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi stretch, Kochi Metro Rail Phase I Extension project (Phase IB) from SN Junction Metro station to Tripunithura Metro station, Agra Metro’s stretch from Taj East Gate to Mankameshwar and Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor.

After the inauguration programme PM Modi boarded the underwater metro for a ride with school children. He also interacted with the metro staff while traveling. West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari were present at the site as well.