India's first underwater Metro run put on hold

India's first undersea metro run was postponed at the last minute after two rakes were successfully transported from the East-West Sealdah metro station using a battery-powered locomotive on Sunday.

Two rakes will soon travel from Esplanade (Kolkata side) to Howrah Maidan under the river Hooghly, Metro Railway officials said. Train trials will then be conducted to ensure the shortened Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section receives safety clearance for operation.

While those watching the East-West Metro project, which will eventually cover 16 km from Sector V to Howrah Maidan under the river, waited for the historic underwater run, higher-ups issued instructions that the rakes would run another 4.8 km from the Esplanade to the Howrah terminus Maidan in the next few days and not on Sunday.

When the rakes cross the river in the coming days, they will pass through Howrah station, the country's deepest metro station, located 33 meters underground. Two rakes have been tested at the East-West Salt Lake Metro depot over the past seven days. The rakes were powered by a battery locomotive. A battery-powered hybrid locomotive purchased from South Korea's Kum Chum System Co Ltd came in handy as there is no third line between Sealdah, Bowbazar and Esplanade to run trains electrically.

The locomotive – called a hybrid because it can also operate with a third rail drive – pulled BEML six-car rakes one by one from Sealdah to Esplanade via the eastern tunnel. The first rakes left the Salt Lake depot around 8:20 a.m. A second one followed around 8:30. The locomotive, which can pull a train up a steep 4% grade at a top speed of 25km/h and is usually used for accident relief or pulling a disabled train off the tracks, managed to push the first rake into Esplanade station at around 12.30pm. in the afternoon and the other around 3:50 p.m.

The rakes went to Sealdah as normal on Sunday. From Sealdah to Esplanade they were powered by batteries. From Esplanade to Howrah Maidan, the rakes will again run normally with power drawn from the third rail sometime this week, sources said.

On Sunday, one rake was parked at Esplanade station, while the other was parked in the eastern tunnel near Esplanade station. Officials heaved a sigh of relief as transportation of rakes to Esplanade is a crucial step to start train trials on the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section.