The network of Indian Railways is very old and has been running for many years. Every day lakhs of passengers travel in it. The first train ran in India in the year 1853, since then many developments have taken place in the railway and today many forms of rail have also come, from metro to bullet train. Which has made the journey of our life easier. Today we are going to tell you about another form of rail, which you may not believe after hearing, but it is true. We are talking about the country’s first underwater train, which passes under water. Let’s know about it, what is special.
Where is the country’s first underwater train running
First of all, let us tell you that the country’s first underwater train is running in Kolkata. This is a metro train. It was started in March this year. This train departs from Howrah Maidan station on Kolkata’s East-West Metro Corridor at 7 am. When people traveled in this underwater train for the first time, they were overjoyed.
This metro train has the deepest station
The first underwater metro train passes under the Hooghly River, which divides Kolkata into two parts. The biggest challenge for the train was how to build a station under water where the first underwater metro train could pass. After which Howrah Railway Station was built, which is also the deepest station in India. Let us tell you, the length of the East West Metro Tunnel is 10.8 km (6.7 mi) and the width is 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in). A 520 m (1,706 ft 0 in) section of the tracks passes through a tunnel under the Hooghly River. The roof of the tunnel is about 30 m (98 ft 5 in) above ground level.
These problems arose in building the metro station
Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited MD VK Srivastava said, Kolkata is a very old city. In such a situation, the condition of the soil here changes from place to place due to the sea and rivers, it was very important to test the soil before building this metro tunnel. Which was a challenging task. Along with this, there are many old buildings in this city. In such a situation, building a tunnel without harming people and buildings was another difficult task. (Narendramodi@X)
The first underwater metro train passes through four metro stations
Kolkata’s underwater metro train passes through four metro stations, which are Howrah, Howrah Maidan, Esplanade, Mahakaran. You will see blue lights burning in the tunnel through which this metro is passing. Let us tell you, it runs for a distance of 4.8 kilometers from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade. In this tunnel, 1.2 kilometers of the part is under water at a depth of 30 meters. This train runs at 80 km/hour.
Underwater metro train fare
While people are happy about the country’s first underwater metro train, they are also worried about safety. In such a situation, a 15-storey shaft has also been built to remove their tension. If we talk about the ticket price, the ticket prices of Kolkata’s underwater metro start from Rs 5 and go up to Rs 50. The fare depends on the distance. The ticket for the first 2 kilometers is Rs 5, and as the distance increases, the fare also increases, which can be up to a maximum of Rs 50.
