Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal flags off East-West Metro corridor in Kolkata today

Kolkata, Feb 13: The Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday flagged off the first phase of the East-West Metro corridor connecting Sector V with Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

The railway minister on his Twitter handle posted a live video of the inauguration event of the East-West Metro corridor connecting Sector V with Salt Lake Stadium in the city.

He flagged off the inaugural run on the 4.88-km section of the much-awaited metro corridor at 5 pm on Thursday.

Poised to be an engineering marvel upon completion, the East-West Metro corridor between Sector V and Howrah Maidan stations comprises both elevated viaducts covering 5.8 km and an underground section of 10.8 km.

In a first in the country, tunnels have been bored under the Hooghly river to connect the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah through the rapid transit system.

The first phase of the service will be on the overground viaduct section.

The metro project suffered an unexpected obstacle in 2019 when an aquifer burst during tunnelling work, leading to huge ground settlement and the collapse of several buildings in the Bowbazar area of central Kolkata.