Underwater Metro To Take Just 1 Minute To Cross Tunnel
The East-West Metro Corridor is touted to be an engineering marvel on completion. The East-West Metro Corridor between Sector V and Howrah Maidan stations will have an elevated viaduct covering 5.8 km and an underground section of 10.8 km. The East-West Metro channel includes one part which is the underwater metro tunnel but that portion will start from 2021 and is expected to carry around 9,00,000 passengers daily which is an estimated 20% of the city’s population. The metro will take less than a minute to cross a 520m underwater tunnel. It usually takes around 320 minutes to 1 hour to cross the Howrah Bridge by ferry. But with the completion of the underwater metro, it’s expected that this time will but the time drastically.
To put this project into action, a soft loan of ₹41.6 billion rupees from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is taken and will help fund 48.5% of the project. The Railways board will also be providing a final payment of $2.8 million to Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation as informed by the Managing Director at KMRC, Manas Sarkar. The East-West Metro corridor is currently under construction in Kolkata and its first phase will be completed on 13th February 2020.
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Earlier Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Gave Glimpse Of Project
Back in 2019, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had given a glimpse of India’s first underwater metro in a Twitter video. Kolkata’s East-West Metro corridor will be India’s first such river crossing ever. Piyush Goyal shared the video stating the underwater train is an excellent example of engineering. He had further mentioned that the train is a symbol of the progress of the railway in the country. He also stated that the Kolkata residents would feel comfortable and India will feel proud of this project. Did you know Kolkata Is Named Safest City In India, Second Time In A Row?
भारत की पहली अंडर वॉटर ट्रेन शीघ्र ही कोलकाता में हुगली नदी के नीचे चलना आरंभ होगी। उत्कृष्ट इंजीनियरिंग का उदाहरण यह ट्रेन देश में निरंतर हो रही रेलवे की प्रगति का प्रतीक है।
इसके बनने से कोलकाता निवासियों को सुविधा, और देश को गर्व का अनुभव होगा। pic.twitter.com/MDzj42s5XZ
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 8, 2019
This underwater tunnel would facilitate the metro to commute more than a 10 storied building below the water surface and around half a kilometer across the Hooghly river. This is India’s first rare venture, where tunnel linings have a thickness of more than a quarter of a meter. The tunnel is sealed from the water entering through a hydrophilic rubber and a gasket of neoprene. The project has been in progress since 2009, due to which the costs have doubled thanks to the delay. The Howrah and Sealdah Stations of the Indian Railways will also be present. The underwater metro will be completed at a later date reportedly by March 2022 but the first phase of the East-West Corridor with 5 stations will be completed on 13th February 2020. Well, on the completion of the underwater metro, we will have one more reason to visit the beautiful city of Kolkata. Here are 8 Things To Do In Kolkata