Howrah metro station, the deepest station in the country, expected to be operational 2023

Construction of the country’s deepest metro station and first underwater metro tunnel — ‘Howrah station of east-west metro corridor’ — is all set to be completed. According to Metro officials, the metro is expected to start its service 2023.
“Howrah station of east-west metro corridor is being constructed beside the Howrah Station. It will be one of the busiest stations after Sealdah station. Commuters coming from suburbs and various dricts will be able to reach Salt Lake in a very short time. This has been unthinkable so far,” Rupayan Mitra, Public Relations Officer, Kolkata Metro Rail, told .
Apart from the first underwater metro tunnel, the Howrah station has also been dubbed the ‘deepest station in the country’. (Express photo Shashi Ghosh)
He added that this will be the first time metro will run under a river in India. “It is no less than a construction marvel,” he said.

The Howrah station will connect the two busy railway terminals of Howrah and Sealdah. After the commencement of the metro services, it will take passengers eight minutes to reach Dharmatala and 11 minutes to reach Sealdah from Howrah.
Underwater Howrah metro tunnel (Express photo Shashi Ghosh)
Apart from the first underwater metro tunnel, the Howrah station has also been dubbed the ‘deepest station in the country’. Earlier, Delhi’s Hauz Khas, with a depth of 30 meters, held the title earlier. The Howrah station has been constructed at a depth of 33 meters or 105 feet, beating the earlier record.
It is expected that the trial run will take place after power is provided to the metro line up to the Esplanade. Electricity supply work on the two-lane line from Howrah Maidan to the Esplanade and on the third line till Mahakaran has been completed already.
While the main work of the station is nearing its completion, some of the architectural, electrical and internal work remains (Express photo Shashi Ghosh)
“ 2023, it is expected that the metro connectivity between Salt Lake and Howrah Maidan will be commissioned. We are hopeful that passengers will be able to travel in Howrah metro next year,” Mitra added.
The tunnel excavation work of two tunnels – ‘Rachna’ and ‘Prerna’- that pass through the Ganges and rise in Bara Bazar area started in 2016 and ended in 2019. The length of each of the two tunnels, running about 15 meters below the Ganges, is about 500 meters.
After the commencement of the metro services, it will take passengers eight minutes to reach Dharmatala and 11 minutes to reach Sealdah from Howrah (Express photo Shashi Ghosh)
While the main work of the station is nearing its completion, some of the architectural, electrical and internal work remains, which is being done in a rapid and efficient manner. “Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the construction work went on smoothly,” Mitra shared.
Further, metro sources shared that four platforms have been set up at Howrah metro station considering a large number of passengers. For emergency situations, an emergency exit system has been created in the tunnel through which passengers can be taken out from under the Ganges if the need arises.
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