KOLKATA: The Kolkata Metro has been known to be a lifeline for the people of the busy city. It has created history this week with the successful maiden run through a tunnel that passes under the Hooghly River of the state.
General Manager of Kolkata Metro Rail, P Uday Kumar Reddy was aboard the rake number MR-612 as its undertook the historic trip from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan in the city of Kolkata, through a tunnel under the river, in the first trip of its kind in India. He was accompanied by the Additional General Manager of Metro Railway and the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director HN Jaiswal during this trip.
According to reports from the railway department, this rake crossed under the Hooghly river at about 11.55 AM on Wednesday.
P Uday Kumar Reddy had reportedly offered puja at the Howrah station once the rake had successfully reached there. Later on, another rake bearing number MR-613 also reached the Howrah Maidan station.
General Manager called this successful trial a historic moment and said that the trial runs from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade and will be conducted over the next seven months. Only then will regular passenger services be allowed in the underwater stretch. He also applauded the efforts of all staff and engineers of the organisation which made this project possible.
The public relations officer Kaushik Mitra mentioned, “After many hurdles we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly river, a revolutionary step in the transport system of Kolkata. This is indeed a special new year gift from Indian Railways for the people of Bengal.”
The tunnel has been built 32 meters below the river bed and once completed, the Howrah metro station will be the deepest one in the country, located at a depth of 33 meters from the surface.
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