India's first underwater train will be operational soon, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal shares video

India's first underwater train will be operational soon, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, describing the project as an "example of excellent engineering". Goyal also shared a video of the upcoming metro line that will run under Kolkata's Hooghly River.

"This train is a symbol of the progress of the railway in the country. With this, Kolkata residents will feel comfortable, and the country will feel proud," he tweeted in Hindi.

The video shared by the railways minister features Prime Minister Narendra Modi and describes the engineering greatness the went into the construction of the underwater metro tunnels. The video also talks about the safety features that includes "four protective covers" to prevent the water leakage.

भारत की पहली अंडर वॉटर ट्रेन शीघ्र ही कोलकाता में हुगली नदी के नीचे चलना आरंभ होगी। उत्कृष्ट इंजीनियरिंग का उदाहरण यह ट्रेन देश में निरंतर हो रही रेलवे की प्रगति का प्रतीक है।

इसके बनने से कोलकाता निवासियों को सुविधा, और देश को गर्व का अनुभव होगा। pic.twitter.com/MDzj42s5XZ

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 8, 2019

The new underwater train will be part of Kolkata's metro line 2. Also known as the East-West Metro, the 16 km line will be open in two phases. The first phase will connect Salt Lake Sector 5 station to Salt Lake Stadium station and will become operational by the end of this month. The second phase will be the underwater line, which will connect Salt Lake Sector 5 station to Howrah Maidan station.

The construction for the under water metro line had started in April 2017. The machines for tunnel boring were brought from Germany. The tunnels will be 520 metres long and 30 metres deep. India's first metro was started in Kolkata and now the city of joy will also ahve the honour of having India's first ever underwater train.