Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first metro line “under any mighty river” in Kolkata today, a landmark project showcasing the nation’s infrastructure development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated India’s first metro line “under any mighty river” in Kolkata today, a landmark project showcasing the nation’s stride towards infrastructure development.
He also laid the foundation stone of multiple connectivity projects worth Rs 15,400 crore.
The metro railway services flagged off by the Prime Minister include operations from Kolkata Metro’s Kavi Subhash, Majerhat and the Esplanade stations; Kochi Metro, Agra Metro, Meerut-RRTS section and Pune Metro.
The underwater service is part of the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor, which will cover a distance of 4.8 km under the Hooghly river.
The metro service will connect Howrah and Salt Lake — the West Bengal state capital’s twin cities. Three out of six stations will be underground. It is expected to zoom through a 520-metre stretch under the Hooghly in just 45 seconds.
The Prime Minister took the first ride on the underwater metro with several school students.
A video from inside the metro train’s premises, shows Modi interacting with the school children sitting next to him, while some of them stood near him.
He waved to passengers of another metro train when it passed by the one he was riding on.
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, along with several metro staffers, also accompanied the Prime Minister on the metro train.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by top officials and dignitaries.
“Although the inauguration will take place tomorrow (Wednesday), the passenger services will begin at a later date,” the PTI news agency quoted Kaushik Mitra, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Railway, as saying.
The inauguration of the landmark project comes less than a year after Kolkata Metro, in April 2023, made history by running a train through the underwater tunnel as part of trials, which was a first in India.
Speaking to India Today TV earlier this week, Kaushik Mitra said that the underwater metro service is “a gift from our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people of Kolkata”.