Prime Minister Modi Inaugurates India's First Underwater Metro In Kolkata; 16.6 Km With Deepest Station (Photo on X Narendra Modi @narendramodi)Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the 16.6 kilometre-long underwater metro in the Hooghly river in Kolkata. The Prime Minister was in West Bengal as part of his ten-day visits to 12 states and union territories. In his second visit in a week to the state, the Prime Minister while opening the facility took the first ride on the underwater metro along with several school students.
A video shared by the news agency ANI showed the Prime Minister engaging with the children and waving hands to the people travelling on the opposite track. The Prime minister was accompanied by the state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar, assembly opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari and some metro officials on the train. However, though the inauguration was done today, the passenger service will begin later, according to Kaushik Mitra, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Railway. Additionally, the prime minister has set the foundation stones of many other projects.
#WATCH | West Bengal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels with school students in India’s first underwater metro train in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/95s42MNWUS
— ANI (@ANI) March 6, 2024
The underwater project is part of the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor. The underwater service will connect the capital city’s two cities by linking Howrah and Salt Lake.
Out of the total six stations, three will be underground and the service passes a 520 metre river stretch under the Hooghly River in 45 seconds, premising a quick journey. The underwater metro was built at the cost of Rs 4965 crore and it has the deepest station in India, 30 meters below the ground level at Howrah.
In addition, the prime minister also opened several other connectivity projects through video conferencing. The projects included the Pune Metro from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi stretch, the Kochi Metro Rail Phase I Extension project (Phase IB) from SN Junction Metro station to Tripunithura Metro station, Agra Metro’s stretch from Taj East Gate to Mankameshwar and Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor.