BENGALURU: The Kadubeesanahalli Metro station on the K R Puram-Silk Board Metro line of Phase-II will have walkways and direct access to offices which require such connectivity. The Embassy Group, which is funding the station to the tune of Rs 100 crore, will add the name Embassy Tech Village (ETV) to the station. This station on the Outer Ring Road Line, referred to as Phase-IIA, will be the first Metro station to be built on a public-private partnership model. The line will come up at a cost of Rs 4,202 crore and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has resorted to Innovative Financing methods to fund.
According to a top Metro official, the station will be pedestrian-friendly compared to the completed Metro stations. “Just below the viaduct (the bridge on which the rail tracks are laid) of the station, there will be walkways that will connect nearby stations. The proposal is to have a pedestrian walkway of 6 meters width running between stations for a distance of 3 kms beneath the viaduct.” The Metro stations of Kodibisanahalli, Kadubeesanahalli and Bellandur will get connected by this walkway, he said.
Apart from having a direct access to the station from the Embassy Tech Village, the walkway could also have connections leading directly to a few nearby offices interested in sponsoring the route, the official added. Kalyani Tech Park Limited has conveyed its interest in having such an arrangement, he said.
Mike Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Embassy Office Parks told Express that the objective behind the covered walkways was to reduce the reliance on private vehicles and thereby boost public transport and safe pedestrian movement.
On the move to have access to other offices from the ETV Kadubeesanahalli station, Holland said, “The walkway is intended to enable direct access from other techoffices to the metro stations, and encourage employees to use public transport for comfort and safety.” The CEO added,”With the commencement of the project we look forward to bring about better public infrastructure in the city.”
The ORR line has a deadline of 2020. It will have two interchanges at K R Puram and Silk Board. The latter will ensure connectivity between the business hubs of Electronic City with Whitefield areas.
According to the Detailed Project Report for this line, the traffic expected on the ORR line by 2021 averages 3.52 lakh per day. As per the MoU signed in June this year with BMRCL, the Embassy Group can utilise pre-determined spaces for advertisements as well as the 3,000 square feet of leasable retail space at the station. Embassy will have permission to use the station for a period of 30 years from the date of commencement of the commercial operations.
ON THE TRACKS
This station on Outer Ring Road Line will be the first Metro station to be built on a PPP model.
It will be friendly to pedestrians compared to other completed stations.
A pedestrian walkway of 6 meters width between stations proposed.