BENGALURU: Nearly five years and three months after the original deadline, the first train with commuters is scheduled to chug out of Madavara at 5am Thursday. Bowing to public pressure, the State government decided to throw open the line for operations, with the formal inauguration set to take place later. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited claims that an additional 44,000 passengers will benefit from the 3.14-km stretch.
The Rs 1168-crore Nagasandra-Madavara line will extend Metro’s overall operational network to 76.95km. With the addition of three stations of Manjunathanagar, Chikkabidarakallu and Madavara (BIEC), the Green Line (North-South corridor) will now have 31 stations and stretch to 33.46km. The Purple Line (East-West corridor) has 38 stations on its 43.49-km network.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar took a ride on the new Reach-3 extension from Nagasandra to Madavara, boarding a train at Yeshwanthpur Metro Station around 1pm. He was accompanied by MP Tejasvi Surya, Nelamangala MLA Srinivasaiah and Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju.
Briefing newspersons later, Shivakumar said the city will have 175km of operational Metro network by 2026. “A total of 30km of new Metro lines will be added by 2025,” he said.
The RV Road-Bommasandra line (Reach-5) will be opened in the beginning of next year, and the elevated portion of Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara (Reach-6) will be opened by the end of 2025, a senior Metro official told TNIE.
Shivakumar said, “We don’t want to delay Metro service for the public. We will open it tomorrow (Thursday). We will invite all MPs and other representatives and officially inaugurate it at a later date.”
People who enter the city from Tumakuru Road can park their vehicles at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre and board the Metro, bypassing city traffic, the Deputy CM added.
Elaborating on facilities coming up along this stretch for Metro commuters, Shivakumar said, “A pedestrian skywalk will be built at Manjunathanagar station. An agreement has been entered into with Indian Railways to build a bridge for pedestrians between Yeshwantpur Metro and railway stations.”
A report has been readied to develop an underpass at Chikkabidarakallu in partnership with National Highways Authority of India, he said. “We are also in talks with NHAI to build an underpass at Madavara Metro Station.”
Shivakumar also said Rs 1,130 crore has been paid for new train sets for Bengaluru Metro.