BENGALURU: Bengaluru Metro’s Central Silk Board to K R Puram (Phase 2A) and K R Puram to Kempegowda International Airport (Phase-2B) lines will be in place by September 2026, said B L Yashavanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
He was responding to a query during a panel discussion on ' Namma Bengaluru-Better Infrastructure’ organised on Friday by the iNFHRA (Infrastructure, Facility, Human Resource and Realty Association) as part of its 8th edition of WorkPlace Excellence conference with the support of the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA).
Chavan said, “By the time Phase 2A and 2B are ready, the Electronic City line would be ready with connectivity to Silk Board. IT industry professionals who commute to the Airport can travel seamlessly.”
As per the Comprehensive Development Plan, BMRCL is to put in place 317 km by 2031. “We are internally trying to reach 450 km by that time to help public use public transport,” he said.
Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, Integrated Transport and Road Safety, WRI India, said, “Bengaluru had nearly 1.2 crore vehicles to cater to its population of 1.4 cr. If those under 18 who do not drive are left out, we have more vehicles than the City’s population. Comparatively, the City only had 45 lakh vehicles in 2016.” Alavalli, who is behind the Personal2Public campaign to goad the public to use public transport repeatedly emphasised the need for it.
KR Vishwanath, Chief Traffic Manager, Operations, BMTC said buses were impacted heavily due to the proliferation of private vehicles on the road. “During peak hours, buses run on speeds ranging between 8 and 10 km/hr which is almost the speed at which a pedestrian can walk. We are running 57 lakh trips presently with our fleet of 6,000 buses. We have 390 electric vehicles and hope to have 1,500 of them within six months which will promote green mobility.” He pointed out that on the recent Bandh Day, Vayu Vajra buses to and from the airport ferried nearly 26,000 people in place of the regular average figure of 12,000.
R K Singh, Director of K-RIDE implementing the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, said, “We plan to run a suburban train every 5 minutes.” Work has started in one suburban corridor between Bennigenahalli and Chikkabanara (Corridor 2) while tenders will shortly be finalised for the other one between Heelalige and Rajanakunte.
Manas Das, president of ORRCA said the association was instrumental in ensuring footpaths around all Metro stations.
B S Prahlad, Engineer in Chief BBMP said it was partnering with all public transport agencies to ensure a seamless journey for residents.