BENGALURU: The Metro link from Nagawara to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will run for a distance of around 29 kilometres and is estimated to cost nearly Rs 5,900 crore. This figures in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which has been submitted to the Chief Minister’s office for approval on Tuesday.
“The route will have six stations, including two Metro stations inside KIA. The airport authorities had requested for them,” said a highly placed government source. The airport line which will be an extension of the Gottigere-Nagawara line of Phase-II will have halts at Hegde Nagar, Jakkur, Yelahanka (Kogilu Cross) and Chikkajala before terminating at the airport. “The line will be a fully elevated one barring the area near the Yelahanka air force station where it will run at ground level. It will continue elevated after that,” a top official said.
After the CM approves it, the DPR will be tabled in the Cabinet next week, a source said. The cost was estimated to be around Rs 4,000 crore earlier. On the land acquisition front, the top official said that the route was not likely to face any major land acquisition issues as most of the land required would be acquired from the National Highway Authority of India and the State government.
This is the second in-house DPR prepared by BMRCL, which has resulted in savings of Rs 21 crore. The DPR was submitted by BMRCL to Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on September 21. The K R Puram-Silk Board (Phase-2A) was the first DPR prepared completely by BMRCL. The State government in May finalised this route from nine different routes suggested by BMRCL.
6: No. of stations on Airport line--- Hegde Nagar, Jakkur, Yelahanka (Kogilu Cross), Chikkajala and KIA
29 km
The distance of Metro link from Nagavara to the Kempegowda International Airport
R5,900 crore
Estimated cost to be incurred on Airport line as against R4,000 crore estimated earlier
Namma Metro set to roll into Airport
Nagavara to airport in 30 minutes
The rail tracks for the new airport line (Phase-2B) have been designed such that can they run trains at 100 km/hr. “The journey time from Nagawara to the airport could be anywhere between 25 minutes and 30 minutes. The Metro tracks in place presently are designed for 80kmph but the average speed of Metro trains is 34kmph. Trains on the airport line could touch up to 60kmph,” said a Metro official.
Nagawara-Gottigere line a challenge
To provide connectivity from the City to the airport, the completion of the 21.25 km Red Line is crucial. The 13.9 km underground corridor is the largest underground stretch in Phase-II and runs from Dairy Circle in the South to Nagawara in the North. A total of 12 tunnel boring machines will bore through this route and the tough geographical conditions are expected to pose a huge challenge. It has a deadline for 2020.
Route details
From Nagawara, the line will pass along Thanisandra Road up to Hegde Nagar. It will turn left and pass through Jakkur here. From there, it will go along University of Agricultural Sciences and meet the Airport Road (NH44). It will head right up to Trumpet Flyover from where it will take a right turn and head to the airport.