Kolkata is set to test run two six coach metro trains under the Hooghly river’s underwater tunnel tomorrow i.e. on 9 April.
This will make it India’s first-ever underwater sections.
The two six-coach trains have been readied for trials as part of Kolkata East-West Metro Project.
The East West metro corridor connecting Howrah Maidan and Sector V in Salt Lake is partially operational between Sector V station and Sealdah.
The two six-coach metro train will trial run on 4.8 kilometer stretch between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan.
With this, another feather will be added to the crown of Kolkata Metro.
The first metro railway in the country was also started in Kolkata in 1984 and then later in Delhi in 2002.
The section between Sector V and Sealdah has already been operationa.
But the section between Sealdah and Esplanade has been delayed delayed due to three major subsidences incidents since August 2019
The daily citing the metro officials has said that the trail run which will be held tomorrow between the Salt Lake and Howrah will pass successfully through the Sealdah and Esplanade tunnel.
The report further stated that track laying between Sealdah and Esplanade is incomplete.
However, for now gaps have been bridged by laying temporary tracks for transportation of the two trial trains.
Official told TOI that till the Sealdah station, the trains will run normally but from Sealdah to Esplanade.
They will be pushed by battery powered loco as the tunnel, then again from Esplanade to Howrah they will function normally.
The battery powered loco will be used as it still doesn’t have electrified third rails.
As per the report, the date of commencement of commercial service will depend on the success of the trials.
Earlier, KMRC had said that India’s first underwater metro service.
The East-West Metro Corridor project is expected to be completed by December 2023.
Shailesh Kumar, General Manager Civil KMRC had told ANI, “The ongoing underwater tunnel project is likely to be completed by December 2023.
Some rehabilitation works are in process and other issues are delaying the completion of the underwater metro project.
The first of its type in India, the underwater metro train has been compared to the Eurostar, which connects London and Paris.
The tunnel is composed of a material that would lessen water permeability and will be 13 metres below the Hooghly riverbed.
Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation has taken up the difficult take of making the tunnel with the help of German machines and the best experts.
The project completion will bring great relief to lakhs of commuters.
Moreover it will connect the busy Howrah and Sealdah railway stations as well as the north-south line of the Kolkata Metro at Esplanade.
The Howrah metro station will be the deepest in the nation and will be 33 metres deep.
With a depth of 29 metres, Hauz Khas in the Delhi Metro is currently the deepest.
Additionally, there will be exits in the tunnel for emergencies like earthquakes.
It costs about ₹120 crore per kilometre to build the tunnel but the manufacturing cost of the tunnel underwater
Which is deep in the Hooghly river costs increased to around 157 crores by per kilometre, as per ANI reports.