Work on the tunnel for the underwater Metro project is almost complete and services will start very soon. The five km stretch of East-West Metro between Salt Lake and Howrah was inspected and will be operational soon. The foundation stone of the project was first laid in 2009.
The project is being implemented by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation. The 16.6 km Kolkata East-West Metro will ferry an estimated one million passengers per day by 2035.
The entire project will be completed by 2021. After the completion of this project, the underwater train will connect Howrah and Mahakarn Railway Stations, which are among the busiest railway stations in the world.
The 520 mtr twin tunnel has been built 30 mtr below the riverbed, and it is estimated that those commuting from Howrah to Mahakaran Metro station will need around a minute as the train is expected to pass this tunnel at a speed of 80 km per hour.