Kolkata metro dives deep in India's maiden under-river journey

The Kolkata Metro on Wednesday made history when it made its first trip through the Hooghly River tunnel.

The metro made its first-ever voyage beneath a river in India, reports Times of India.

To witness this momentous occasion, Metro Rail general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy took rake number MR-612 from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station.

This rake crossed Hooghly river at 11:55am local time.

Reddy offered puja at Howrah station once the rake reached there.

Later, rake no MR-613 was also taken to Howrah Maidan station, adds the report.

The general manager described it as a historic occasion and announced that trial runs from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade would be conducted for the following seven months before regular services on this length would begin.

All the staff and engineers of KMRCL under whose effort this engineering marvel could be achieved were happy that "their dreams have finally come true".

Metro Rail chief public relations officer Kausik Mitra said, "After many hurdles we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly river, a revolutionary step in the transport system of Kolkata. This is indeed a special new year gift from Indian Railways for the people of Bengal."

The two metro rakes were transported on Wednesday from Esplanade station to Howrah Maidan station, and soon the trial runs on the 4.8km underground segment between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade will start.

On this length, it's anticipated that commercial services will start this year.

Howrah will be the country's deepest metro station (33 meters below the surface) once this section is completed and open.

The metro will take 45 seconds to cross a 520-metre stretch beneath the Hooghly River.

This tunnel under the river is 32 meters below the river bed.