India's first underwater metro services to start soon in Kolkata

Minister for Railways and Commerce & Industry, Mr Piyush Goyal announced the underwater metro rail project in Kolkata which is being constructed in the Hoogly river of Kolkata city. The 520-meter twin tunnel, one east-bound and the other west-bound, is manufactured 30 meter underneath the riverbed. Commuters between Howrah and Mahakaran metro stations will be under the river for just about a moment when the metro train will go through the tunnel at a speed of 80 km per hour.

Of the 16.6-km course of the East-West Metro project, the tunneling covers 10.6 km, of which 520 meter is under the river. The underwater tunnel is being constructed at an expense of Rs 60 crore while the total cost of the East-West Metro project is evaluated to be around Rs 9,000 crore. The tunnelling work began in April last year and likely to be finished in the river section shortly, said by senior Railway Minster.

For the railways, besides the tunnel under the Hooghly river, drilling work is continuing for the seven-km-long under-sea route of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail corridor to find out soil condition for India's first bullet train path.

Travelers will get the thrill of traveling under the sea at a maximum speed of 350 km/hour, another first in the country, near Thane in the upcoming rapid train project connecting the two metropolis.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.