BMRC will expand 170km network of Bangalore Metro by 2024: Anjum Parwez

Bengaluru, India (Urban Transport News): The total network of Bangalore Metro will be extended from 56-km to 170-km and its daily ridership is expected to increase to 17 lakh by 2024, said Anjum Parwez, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL).

Currently, Bangalore Metro is carrying 3.3-3.5 lakh passengers daily. However, before the pandemic, it was around 5 lakh.

Telling about the status of the Metro corridors, he said, "Challaghatta station (2km Kengeri-Challaghatta extension) will be ready by September 2022 and the 3km stretch of Nagasandra-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (Madavara) will be operational by October-November 2022.

The deadline for under construction two corridors of Bangalore Metro namely Byappanahalli-Whitefield (15km) and RV Road-Bommasandra (Electronics City) (19km) is set for December 2022. Work on the entire 21km Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara corridor will be over by 2024," he added.

“Both Whitefield Metro and Electronics City Metro are progressing fast. In fact, we have resolved all land acquisition and tree felling issues between Byappanahalli and KR Puram,” he said. The Outer Ring Road (Central Silk Board- KR Puram) and Airport (KR Puram-Kempegowda International Airport) lines are also on track. “We are confident of meeting the 2024 deadline for these two corridors,” said Parwez.

He said completion of Byappanahalli-Whitefield and ORR-Airport Metro will substantially increase daily ridership to more than 17 lakh by 2024.

In May 2021, BMRCL awarded the work order to Afcons Infrastructure Ltd to construct Central Silk board – Kodibeesanahalli (package 1), Shankaranarayana Constructions (SNC) received the contract for the remaining Kodibeesanahalli- KR Puram (package 2). In November, BMRCL awarded the contract to Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) in November for all three civil construction packages from KR Puram to KIA.

The 3-km Nagasandra-BIEC section work which began in 2017 and was supposed to be completed by mid-2019 is yet to be over mainly due to land acquisition issues.

“There is no question of delay of the ORR-airport corridor. We have no land acquisition issues. A majority of the land is acquired and handed over to the contractors. We received a favourable order from the high court on felling trees. We also managed to get an NoC from the Government Flying Training School, Jakkur, for the work,” Parwez said.