বাংলায় পড়ুন
India's first underwater metro line successfully completed its inaugural test run in Kolkata on Wednesday, making history. The train rake MR-612 of the Metro Railway in Kolkata covered a distance of 520 metres underwater in just 45 seconds, traveling from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan under the Hooghly River. The underwater tunnel is located at a depth of 32 metres. According to Kaushik Mitra, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Metro Railway, Kolkata, "This is a historic moment for Metro Railway since it is after overcoming many hurdles that we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly River". He added that this achievement is a significant step towards providing modern transportation to the people of Kolkata and its suburbs.
Kolkata was the first city in India to have a metro railway system in 1984, and now it has achieved another milestone with the underwater metro line. Once the project is completed, Howrah will have the country's deepest Metro station, located 33 metres below the surface. The East-West corridor route will have 12 metro stations, including Howrah Maidan, Howrah Station, BBD Bagh (Mahakaran), Esplanade, Sealdah, Phoolbagan, Salt Lake Stadium, Bengal Chemical, City Centre, Central Park, Karunomoyee and Salt Lake Sector 5.
Over the next seven months, trial runs will be conducted before passenger services begin. The East-West corridor route will connect suburban Kolkata to Howrah on the outskirts of the city, drastically reducing travel time. On the inaugural run, P. Uday Kumar Reddy, General Manager of Metro Railway, travelled on Rake No MR-612 to witness this historic moment. He was accompanied by H.N. Jaiswal, Additional General Manager of Metro Railway and Managing Director of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL), along with other senior officers of Metro Railway and KMRCL. Once the rake arrived, a puja was conducted at Howrah station to mark the occasion.
