India’s first underwater metrorail, which runs under the Hooghly River in Kolkata, will begin testing this Sunday (9 April).
According to Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) officials, two six-coach rakes will slow down the twin tunnels between the Esplanade and Howrah Maidan, marking the first time the train will run under a river in India.
The 4.8 km tunnel between Esplanade on the east bank of the Hooghly River and Howrah Maidan on the west bank was completed a year ago, but KMRC officials waited for the completion of the 2.5 km section between Shields and Esplanade before commercialization. It has started. operation.
However, as this 2.5 km section between Shields and Esplanade is not yet completed, it will not wait until all construction work on the Shields-Esplanade section is completed to begin operations between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan. has been decided.
India’s first underwater metrorail, which runs under Kolkata’s Hooghly River, will begin testing this Sunday (9 April).
According to Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) officials, two six-coach rakes will slow down the twin tunnels between the Esplanade and Howrah Maidan, marking the first time the train has run under a river in India.
The 4.8km tunnel between Esplanade on the east bank of the Hooghly and Howrah Maidan on the west bank was completed a year ago, but KMRC officials waited for the completion of the 2.5km section between Sealdah and Esplanade to commercialize it. started. surgery.
However, this 2.5 km section between Shields and Esplanade has not yet been completed, so we will not wait until all construction work between Shields and Esplanade is completed before we can begin operating between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan. has been decided.
“The target for commissioning of the balance section from Shielda to Howrah Maidan is June 2023,” KMRC said in a statement.
Of the project’s total length of 16.55 km, 9.30 km between Sector V and Shields is in operation. Of the total length of 16.55 km, 10.8 km is underground and 5.8 km is elevated.
Cracks appeared in several houses during underground construction in May.
On August 31, 2019, a tunnel excavator hit an aquifer, leading to severe ground subsidence and the collapse of several buildings in the area.
