BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the RV Road- Bommasandra stretch and the Nagasandra-Madavara stretch of Metro Phase II Yellow Line will be inaugurated by April 2024. The completion of work on other stretches and the Outer Ring Road and Airport line by 2026 will boost the daily ridership of Metro rail to 20 lakh, he said.
The CM was speaking at his home office “Krishna” where he and his deputy DK Shivakumar took part in a programme in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually dedicated to the nation the KR Pura-Baiyappanahalli and the Kengeri-Challaghatta stretches of the Purple Line of Bengaluru Metro (4.15 km) from Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi also launched the priority section of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System and flagged off India’s first Namo Bharat train connecting Shahibabad with Dubai depot.
In his address, Modi said, “Two Metro lines of Bengaluru have been dedicated to the nation today. With them, the connectivity to the IT hub in Bengaluru has become much better. Nearly 8 lakh people travel by Bengaluru Metro daily now.”
The Rs 363.48-crore KR Pura stretch and the Rs 167.97-crore Challaghatta stretch were opened for commercial operations on October 9. They have boosted daily patronage by over one lakh, according to data released by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
Possibly hinting at Mysuru getting Metro connectivity in the future, the PM said, “In Uttar Pradesh today, Metro rail is in Noida, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Kanpur. In some places, Metro is running or will run in the near future. In Karnataka too, be it Bengaluru or Mysuru, Metro services will be expanded.”
Stressing the need for pollution-free transport to ensure clean air for all, Modi said the Centre has provided Rs 5,000 crore to Bengaluru where electric buses are being rolled out at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore.
The CM, in his address, specified deadlines for Metro lines of the 75.06-km Phase II project being built at a cost of Rs 30,695 crore. “Work on the Nagasandra-Madavara stretch (3.14 km) and the RV Road-Bommasandra stretch (Yellow Line) of 19.15 km is in the final stages of completion. They will be opened by April 2024,” he said.
The Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara stretch (Pink Line) of 21.26 km will be opened by March 2025. “In all, 117 km of Metro network will be functional by then which will take the ridership to 12 lakh,” he said.
Metro Phase 2A (Central Silk Board-KR Pura) and the 2B (KR Pura-KIA) lines of 58 km will be opened in 2026. “The Metro network would touch 176 km and the ridership 20 lakh per day. Of the total project cost of Rs 14,788 crore, Karnataka has released Rs 4,775.36 crore,” he said. Siddaramaiah appealed to Modi to take steps to approve the Metro Phase 3 project of 45 km for which the state has submitted a proposal. This project is estimated to cost Rs 15,612 crore.