Howrah Maidan-Esplanade: India’s first underwater Metro launched

Another feather was added to the crown of Kolkata Metro with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the much-awaited Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch of East-West Metro Corridor from the newly-constructed Esplanade Metro Station on Wednesday. Modi also inaugurated Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby) stretch of Orange Line and extended Taratala-Majerhat stretch of Purple Line. On Wednesday, General Manager of Metro Railway P Uday Kumar Reddy explained the East-West Metro project to the PM with the help of a 3-D Model.

The project cost for the Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch was Rs 4,965 crore. This stretch has the deepest Metro station in India at Howrah. The Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector V section of the stretch was already operational. With the inauguration of Howrah Maidan to Esplanade, the only stretch remaining in this corridor is Esplanade to Sealdah, which is currently under construction. Once the work is completed, the East-West Metro Corridor will attach Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V, connecting two busiest Railway Stations – Howrah and Sealdah.

While expressing his happiness on seeing the engineering marvel, Modi praised the Metro officers, staff as well as the engineers and labourers who have toiled to make the dream of running Metro services under a mighty river like Hooghly, a reality. After the inauguration, Modi flagged off the first Metro services on these three routes and travelled from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan and back along with school students as well as the labourers and engineers associated with the project.

A total 11.45 kilometre has been added with the Kolkata Metro network at a cost of Rs 6,925. “These projects will help people of far-flung areas of South 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly to travel in and around Kolkata without any traffic snarls and at a faster pace,” Metro Railways stated.

Apart from these three lines, Modi also inaugurated several Metro projects of Agra, Puna, Kochi and a part of Delhi-Meerut RRTS section.