Kolkata to get country’s first underwater metro soon

The metro commuters in Kolkata will soon be able to travel through India’s first underwater metro tunnel. Latest reports suggest that work on the metro tunnel is almost complete and services will start very soon. The foundation stone of this project was first laid in 2009; it is expected to be ready by 2021. And after the completion of this project, the underwater train will connect the Howrah and Mahakarn Railway Stations, which are among the busiest railway stations in the world.

The 520 m twin tunnel has been built 30 m below the riverbed, and it is estimated that those commuting from Howrah to Mahakaran metro station will need around a minute as the train is expected to pass this tunnel at a speed of 80km/hour. Referring to the development, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently said that the Kolkata metro operating under the Indian Railways has constructed the first-ever underwater tunnel in the country. The same has been built using the world’s finest technology, and people will soon be able to commute via rail on this route.

However, to make this project a reality, there are a lot of challenges, the first being the proposed route running under a lot of old buildings and heritage structures, with brittle architecture. Although the project is not an easy one, it will prove to be an invaluable asset to a city that has been forever plagued by traffic jams. This will also solve the problem of Kolkata being one of those metropolitan cities in India that has the least road space.