Kolkata: In a significant development, India's first underwater metro started commercial operations in West Bengal capital Kolkata on Friday March 15, over a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the metro line.
The wait is over. The Metro Rail ran with passengers under the Hooghly River at 7 am on Friday. Two cities - Calcutta and Howrah are connected to the subway through three routes of the Kolkata Metro network---Green Line's Esplanade to Howrah Maidan (4.8 km long), Orange Line's Kabi Subhash-Hemant Mukhopadhyay segment (5.4 km long) and Purple Line's extended Taratala-Mazherhat segment (1.25 km long). Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated these three routes on March 6.
The underwater metro will depart simultaneously from Esplanade and Howrah Maidan at exactly 7 am. Ahead of the commercial operations today, many passengers sat outside the station from early morning to witness the history created by the Kolkata Metro Rail.
The service has also given relief to the commuters as takes about 40 minutes to reach Kolkata by bus from Howrah Maidan or Shivpur, which will now be reduced to a few minutes saving time and money of thousands of commuters on a daily basis.
The tunnel of the underwater metro is decorated with blue LED lights to mark the lower part of Hooghly River. The Kolkata underwater metro will run on weekdays every 12 to 15 minutes in this section. The last metro of the day is available at 9.45 pm in both directions.
The passenger service of Orange Line from Kabi Subhash to Hemant Mukhopadhyay Metro Station has started today. The first metro ran on this route at 9 am From Kabi Subhash to Hemant Mukhopadhyay. On the other hand, the passenger service from Taratla to Magherhat on the park line has also started from today. The first metro ran from Joka to Taratala at 8.30 am while as the first Metro from Magherhat to Joka started at 8.55 am. The last metro of the day on this line will depart from Joka at 3.10 pm and depart from Magherhat station at 3.35 pm. This route also has no service on Saturday and Sunday.
- Read more: Modi Storms Mamata Turf Again, Unveils India's First Underwater Metro Service
- Deep Down: India's First Underwater Metro Service to Start in Kolkata
- India's first underwater metro to be ready by 2023 end
