India to get its own version of the Eurostar: The first underwater metro is coming soon

Indians no longer need to wait for a trip to Paris to experience the thrill of travelling underwater. An underwater metro, the country’s first, is coming to Kolkata.

The East-West corridor project is expected to be finished by June 2023, The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) said on Monday. The metro line, which is currently operational between Sector V and Sealdah stations, will soon connect Salt Lake to Howrah via Kolkata under the Hooghly River.

According to the KMRC, out of the total 16.55 km stretch of the line, 9.3 km is already operating and the remaining 7.25 km is likely to be operational by next year.

Initially, the project was supposed to be completed by December 2021. But owing to the Bowbazar accidents, construction was delayed.

Let’s take a closer look at the details of the project.

India’s own version of Eurostar

Being the first of its kind in India, the underwater metro train has been compared to Eurostar, which runs between London and Paris.

Out of the entire length of the line, 10.8 km is underground: The metro will pass through a 520-metre underwater tunnel below the Hooghly River.

The twin tunnels that will make up the underwater portion of the line are built of 1.4-metre-wide concrete rings. The tunnels have been equipped with hydrophilic gaskets to prevent water from leaking into them.

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A total budget of Rs 8,600 has been allocated for this project.

Union Minister Smriti Irani recently inaugurated the Sealdah metro station. Four more underground stations will be added to the line at Esplanade, Mahakaran, Howrah and Howrah Maidan. The underwater tunnel will span between Mahakaran and Howrah stations.

According to a report by Mint, the Howrah metro station will be the deepest in the nation – 33 metres – and will beat Delhi’s Hauz Khas station in terms of depth.

Also, the tunnels will have exits for emergencies like earthquakes.

Relief for commuters

Once completed, the metro line will bring relief to lakhs of commuters, connecting the busy Howrah and Sealdah railway stations and bringing the North-South line of the metro closer to Esplanade.

As a result, the train is likely to reduce travel time for daily commuters significantly, reports The Economic Times.  Currently, the Green Line covers a small distance of 6.97 km between Sector V and Phoolbagan. However, as the new line becomes operational, the train will cover a larger distance from Sector V to Howrah.

In addition to ease of travel, the tunnel will provide a one-of-a-kind experience to passengers as the train will zip through the underwater tunnel for half a kilometre.

Why was the project stalled?

Several accidents that occurred in Kolkata’s Bowbazar area pushed the construction work from its initial date of completion.

In May 2022, several homes in the area developed cracks because of the ongoing underground construction work. According to a report by Indian Express, several families were forced to shift to nearby hotels as it was deemed dangerous to live in the damaged houses.

In 2019, a tunnel-boring machine hit an aquifer which led huge chunks of concrete portions to fall off from homes in 18 buildings, The Times of India reports.

Following the incident, authorities immediately stopped the underground metro construction as a precautionary measure.

With inputs from agencies

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