India News
PM Modi will inaugurate India's first underwater metro rail tunnel during his visit to West Bengal's Kolkata on March 6, 2024.
This project aims to connect Salt Lake to Howrah via Kolkata with a stretch below the Hooghly River. The underwater metro is part of the East-West Metro corridor.
The bottom part of the newly-built tunnel is 26 metres from the river’s surface. The trains will ply 16 metres below the riverbed.
Construction major Afcons and Russian company Transtonnelstroy jointly built the tunnel. Afcons dug the Hooghly tunnels in April 2017 and completed them in July 2017.
Employing an innovative Automatic Train Operation (ATO) system, the metro ensures efficient and seamless transit, with plans to commence commercial operations.
To align with the 40-mtr deep under-river tunnels, the station had to be excavated to a depth of 30.5 meters.