On March 15, 2024, when the day’s first train began its journey from the Howrah Maidan station on the East-West metro corridor at 7 am with hundreds of people cheering, it marked a historic first in the country. Commercial services of country’s first underwater metro finally commenced in the city where it all began.
A special illumination of the inner wall of the tunnels under the river has been arranged to give the effects of water around the train. Whenever the lights turned blue, passengers understood the train is then underwater.
KnowALLedge Plus:
>Kolkata was the first city in India to have underground metro railway, way back in 1984. It is the only metro system in the country to be controlled directly by Indian Railways.
>The work for the East-West corridor began in 2009. After facing many hurdles and delay, tunneling under the Hooghly river commenced in 2017.
>Howrah metro station, that also aligns with Howrah Railway Station, is the deepest metro station in India. It is built to accommodate more than 40000 passengers.
>The original idea of an underwater railway was conceived by the British in 1921, around the same time when the Thames Tunnel was coming up in London. However, a feasibility analysis hindered them from going forward. It took more than 100 years to achieve this historic breakthrough.