Kolkata, Mar 11 (UNI) The maiden Metro Rail commercial service, connecting this over 300-year-old city with Howrah, the gateway to Kolkata under the Hooghly River, will begin on March 15, Kolkata Metro officials said on Monday.
On March 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India's first underwater rail service and took a 4.8-kilometre ride along with schoolchildren and Metro workers, which will virtually revolutionise the existing snail-pace traffic system linking this city with Howrah, the gateway to Kolkata and one of India's oldest and busiest Indian Railway junctions.
The Kolkata Metro, which was first introduced in this city in 1985, then also India's first, connecting the extreme Garia to Dakshineswar. in various phases, carries lakhs of commuters daily. The mode of transport is run by Electricity is not only the speediest but also the safest and cheapest.
The Metro Railway has also eased the traffic in the city, which is notorious for political rallies that choked the narrow streets of the surface transport.
Come Friday, Metro services will start plying on Howrah Maidan to Esplanade stretch of the Green Line under the River Hooghly, Kolkata Metro spokesman Kaushik Mitra said.

Apart from that, Metro will be plying Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay stretch of the Orange Line and the extended stretch from Joka to Majerhat of Purple Line, a criss-cross network known to be East-West Metro.
Total: 130 services (65 services from Howrah Maidan and 65 services from Esplanade) will be available on this stretch from Monday to Saturday daily.
Services will be available at 12–15 minute intervals in both directions.
Services will be available from Howrah Maidan and Esplanade stations, alternatively on east-bound and west-bound lines. Services will not be available on this stretch of Sundays either.
First service at 7 a.m.: Howrah Maidan to Esplanade and vice versa. The last service is at 9.45 p.m. from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade and at 9.45 p.m. from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan.
On Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, the orange line will have 48 daily services on this stretch (24 services from Kavi Subhash to Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and 24 services from Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to Kavi Subhash) from Monday to Friday. Services will be available at 20 minutes intervals. Services will not be available on Saturdays and Sundays.
The price varies between Rs 5 and Rs 50 according to distance.
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