Kolkata adds another first with underwater Metro

One sultry Saturday morning, my daughter and my husband suggested we take a ride on the Kolkata underwater Metro. The idea of being in an enclosed space below a river didn’t quite appeal to the thalassophobic in me. Also, the hot and humid weather wasn’t conducive to a day outing either. Nevertheless, I played along: after all, how could I be a life-long Kolkatan and not ride India’s first ever Metro line, or public transportation of any sort, that runs under a river! In 1984, Kolkata made history by opening India’s first operational urban rapid transit system, the Kolkata Metro.  On March 6, 2024,  our city made history again when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s first and biggest under-river metro tunnel, joining the likes of London’s metro under the Thames and the Paris Metro under the Seine.

The underwater tunnel is part of the East-West corridor that runs between Salt Lake Sector V in the East (to be extended to Teghoria in due course) and Howrah Maidan in the West. Though construction for the E-W corridor started in 2009, work for the underwater tunneling began in 2017. The underwater section between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan was constructed by Mumbai-based multinational construction and engineering company, Afcons Infrastructure Limited. 

The Stories Big Media Won’t Tell
38 years of authentic voices, fresh perspectives daily. Subscribe now for free and never miss a story that everyone’s talking about! 📰

Victoria Memorial,  phuchka, get their own murals

A 10-minute autorickshaw ride took us from our home in the North Kolkata neighborhood of Sinthi to the Dumdum Metro Station. From there we boarded a Blue Line train of the North-South corridor, which runs between Dakshineswar Station in the North to Kavi Subhash Station (New Garia) in the South. In about 20 minutes, we got off at the Esplanade Station to hop on to a Green Line train on the East-West corridor that would take us to the terminal station, Howrah Maidan, via the underwater route! 

The Esplanade Station has been expanded to accommodate the extended infrastructure, facilities and the ever-burgeoning crowd. At the entrance of the station, we were greeted by a replica of the path-breaking project. It depicts the Howrah Bridge with the River Hooghly  flowing beneath it, the Dharmatala area on one side and Howrah Station on the other. It also features the two metro lines – the East-bound and West-bound tunnels. Colorful murals of Kolkata’s iconic places like Victoria Memorial, Princep Ghat, Birla Planetarium and Biswa Bangla Gate catch one’s eye. Kolkata’s famed historic trams and popular snacks like phuchka and Bapuji Cake have found their pride of place as murals. 

A noticeable and welcome change in the platform’s safety structure at the Esplanade station and other recently constructed stations are the sliding glass doors along the edges of the platform. These doors open only when a train enters the station and halts completely. I was pleased to note that the newer Metro stations, which are centrally air-conditioned, have also included much-needed provisions like washrooms and water filters. 

A short iconic ride cuts a brutal commute

The train we boarded was fairly crowded with regular commuters and those like us wanting to ride the Metro below the Hooghly River. It is a pretty short ride with only two stops between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan – Mahakaran and Howrah. A little after the train left the Mahakaran station, it entered the deepest point of the tunnel that runs 16 meters (~52 feet)  below the river bed. 

This 520-meter-long stretch is illuminated with blue lights to indicate that the train is running under the river; the blue lights give the passengers the thrill of being surrounded by water. There was visible excitement among the first-timers who whipped out their smartphones to capture the experience.

Now, with nothing but a blue streak of light indicating that we were under the river, my fear of the deep took a backseat; but the teeming crowds made me claustrophobic! Luckily for me, it took about 45 secs to cross that stretch, and after a 10-minute ride, we arrived at our destination, the Howrah Maidan Station. 

It took us barely 40 minutes from our home to Howrah, which would otherwise have taken an hour and half at least by road during rush hours. So the next time I need to catch a long-distance train from Howrah Station, I just need to take the Metro, provided I travel light! 

A gift to Kolkata’s commuters

The E-W corridor has proven to be a blessing for Howrah residents who commute daily by public transport to the city. Earlier, they would have to take either a bus or the ferry to transit locations like Babughat, Bagbazar, and Cossipore, from where they would again need public transport to reach their destinations. The Esplanade station serves as an interchange between the Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash) and the Green Line (Esplanade-Howrah Maidan). As of now metro services are available between Esplanade and Howrah Maidan (Monday-Saturday), and between Sealdah and Sector V. The Esplanade-Sealdah stretch is yet to become operational; on January 21, Kolkata Metro successfully conducted the first trial run on the 2.63 km-stretch. Once fully commissioned, the East-West corridor will connect important areas like the Howrah Station, Sealdah Station, and Salt Lake. This link will cut travel times between Sealdah and Howrah to just over 10 minutes, saving around 90 minutes for daily commuters. Those traveling to Sector V (Salt Lake), the IT hub of Kolkata, should find their commutes a breeze! 

The Kolkata Metro’s underwater tunnel is an engineering marvel that every Kolkatan can be truly proud of. The next time you are in my city, do put this on your must-do itinerary.

TRIVIA: Did you know that two tunnel boring machines used by Afcons were named Prerna and Rachna after the daughters of Bimal, a popular billing manager of the company who died in a fatal road accident in 2016 on his way to the Metro construction site?

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of India Currents. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual or anyone or anything.

Sangeeta Ghosh is a Bengaluru-born Kolkata native. An avid cook who likes to try out new recipes, she also occasionally likes to travel and write. But at heart, she is an animal lover, the go-to person...