Explained: Why India's first underwater metro run in Kolkata was put on hold
Kolkata's underwater metro: Transporting the metro rakes to Esplanade was a crucial step for train trials on the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section to commence. The two rakes will now travel to Howrah Maidan below the Hooghly river shortly.
FollowSunday's first underwater Metro run in India was abruptly cancelled after two rakes were successfully moved from the Sealdah station of the East-West Metro to Esplanade using a locomotive powered by batteries. As per instructions issued by higher authorities, now the rakes will travel the next 4.8 km distance from Esplanade to the terminal Howrah Maidan station in the next few days.
Many people were eagerly anticipating the metro's historic underwater run. The two rakes would soon traverse from Esplanade (Kolkata side) to Howrah Maidan beneath the Hooghly river, passing via Howrah Station, the country's deepest Metro station, at 33 metres below the surface.
The train testing will be conducted after the rakes arrive at the terminal station so that the shortened Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretch may be given the all-clear for operation.
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The two rakes had been operating with the aid of a battery-driven locomotive during testing within East-West Metro's Salt Lake depot for the previous week. It was essential to get the rakes to Esplanade before the train testing on the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade stretch could start. Since there isn't a third line to electrically power train trips between Sealdah, Bowbazar, and Esplanade, the battery-operated hybrid locomotive purchased from South Korea's Kum Chum System Co Ltd came in useful.
The six-coach BEML-make rakes were transported from Sealdah to Esplanade by the hybrid locomotive, which is so named because it can also operate under third rail power. The first rake left the Salt Lake depot around 8.20am. It was followed by the second one around 8.30am.
The rakes travelled regularly on Sunday until they reached Sealdah. They were battery-powered from Sealdah to Esplanade. According to reports, the rakes from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan would resume normal service with electricity pulled from the third rail later this week. On Sunday, one rake was positioned at Esplanade station, while the other was stationed near the eastbound tunnel near Esplanade station. Officials breathed a sigh of relief since transferring the rakes to Esplanade is a critical step in starting train testing on the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade line.
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