BENGALURU: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited's (BMRCL) decision to drop the proposed Veterinary College Metro station from the Phase 3A Red Line on grounds of "low ridership" appears to contradict its own Detailed Project Report (DPR), which projects 18,303 daily boardings at the station. The projected footfall is higher than several other stations on the corridor, prompting criticism over the rationale behind the move.
Opposing the decision, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya alleged that the move was aimed at accommodating the proposed Short Tunnel Road Project at the cost of public transport users.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Surya questioned BMRCL’s justification that the station was removed due to low projected ridership. He claimed that BMRCL’s own DPR estimated daily boardings by 2031, is higher than several proposed stations, including Sarjapura, the originating station of the line. “The Veterinary College station has been removed to accommodate the Short Tunnel Road Project, a clearly unplanned and ill-considered move,” Surya said.
According to the MP, the station was initially planned as an underground station, later redesigned as an elevated station, and has now been removed altogether. He alleged that these changes were driven by efforts to accommodate the tunnel road proposal.
Surya further compared projected demand for the Red Line with that of the tunnel road project. He noted that the DPR estimates peak ridership of 24,000 passengers per hour per direction by 2033 and over eight lakh daily commuters along the corridor. In contrast, the proposed car-only tunnel is designed to carry about 6,500 vehicles per direction.
The MP also blamed rising costs of the Phase 3A project on delays caused by uncertainty surrounding the tunnel road proposal. “Nearly two years have been lost because of confusion created by the tunnel road project. Instead of taking responsibility for the delay, BMRCL is now using it as a reason to remove the station,” he said.
Calling the move an example of “contractor-driven governance”, Surya urged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to prioritise citizen-centric transport planning.