PM Modi inaugurates India's first underwater metro in Kolkata; here's the construction cost

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro's East-West corridor on Wednesday. The metro station which is India's first underwater metro services is deemed an engineering marvel.

Under-water metro

Kolkata metro remains the only metro system in India that is controlled and operated by the Indian Railways. Representing a critical milestone in India's infrastructure development, the Kolkata Metro extension, features the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade Metro section which includes the first transportation tunnel in India to pass under a major river.

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As per Swarajya, the construction cost of the metro line is Rs 8,600 crore. The metro is expected to cover a 520-metre stretch under the river Hooghly in 45 seconds. Howrah will be the deepest Metro station (33 meters below the surface) in the country.

The Kolkata metro is planning to to start commercial operation in the entire route of East-West alignment between Salt Lake Sector V and Howrah Maidan in June-July. However, The Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah stretch of the East-West Metro corridor is commercially operational at present.

Ticket Prices

Ticket prices start at Rs 5 and can go up to Rs 50, depending on the station's distance. For the first two kilometres, the fare is Rs 5, and then it increases to Rs 10, Rs 15, Rs 20, Rs 25 and so on up till Rs 50