Kolkata Metro has achieved a major milestone after its rake run beneath the river on Wednesday. This is for the first time in the history of the country that the metro rake has completed its journey under the river.
A total of two rakes – MR-612 and MR-613 has witnessed this historic event. The MR-612 rake crossed the Hooghly river at 11:55 hrs. Later, the rake No MR- 613 was also taken to Howrah Maidan station.
P Uday Kumar Reddy, General Manager, HN Jaiswal, Additional General Manager, Kolkata Metro and MD, KMRCL as well as other senior officers of Metro Railway and KMRCL travelled from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station in Rake No. MR-612 to witness this historic event.
In a statement, Kausik Mitra, CPRO, Kolkata Metro said, “This is a historic moment for Metro Railway as after overcoming many hurdles we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly river.” Mitra further added, “This is a revolutionary step in providing a modern transport system to the people of Kolkata and suburbs. This is indeed a special new year gift from Indian Railways for the people of Bengal.”
Trial run:-
The trial run from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will commence soon and will be conducted for the next seven months.
Beginning of Commercial service:-
After the successful completion of the trial run and the Commissioner of Railway Safety’s inspection, the commercial service will begin. It is being expected that the regular run of metro rake on the 4.8 kms underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will begin later this year.
The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch is a part of Kolkata Metro’s East-West Corridor. After the opening of this stretch, the East-West Corridor will have 12 stations – Howrah Maidan, Howrah station complex, BBD Bagh (Mahakaran), Esplanade, Sealdah, Phoolbagan, Salt Lake stadium, Bengal Chemical, City Centre, Central Park, Karunamoyee, and Salt Lake Sector-V.
