Kolkata, August 8: Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced India's first underwater train will be operational soon under Kolkata's Hooghly River. Sharing Indian Railways' video on the soon-to-be-operational underwater metro, Piyush Goyal said the underwater train is an "example of excellent engineering". The video also features Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India's first underwater train will start soon under Kolkata's Hooghly River. The train is an example of excellent engineering and symbolises continuous progress of Railways," Goyal tweeted in Hindi. "With this, Kolkata residents will feel comfortable, and the country will feel proud," the minister added sharing the video. In the video, the Indian Railways mentioned the "four protective covers" to prevent water leakage in the two tunnels. Kolkata Metro Takes Cue From Delhi Metro, Eyes Revenue From Ads on Token And Smart Cards.

The underwater train will be part of the Kolkata Metro Line 2, also known as the East-West Metro. The 16km-line will be made operational in two phases. The 5-km first phase line, connecting Salt Lake Sector 5 station to Salt Lake Stadium station, is scheduled to start running later this month. The underwater portion of the line will connect Salt Lake Sector 5 station to Howrah Maidan station. Kolkata Metro Passenger Dies After Train Takes Off with His Hand Stuck Between Gates at Park Street Station.

Piyush Goyal's tweet on underwater train:

Passengers will get a 60-second ride under the water once the line becomes operational. The construction of the metro tunnels under the river began at the Howrah end in April 2017. "Kolkata had the honour of getting India's first Metro. Now, it will get yet another honour of getting India's first metro under the river," chief engineer of the project, Parshuram Singh, had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2019 07:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).