Work on metro rail project may start in October

Work on metro rail project may start in October

The Hindu

Tenders for the proposed route between Chinnaswamy Stadium and Byappanahalli being finalised, says Shrivastava

BANGALORE: Work on the Rs. 6,296-crore metro rail project, currently awaiting approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, is slated to start in October, said K.N. Shrivastava, Managing Director of Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd., on Saturday.

Work would first begin on the proposed route between Chinnaswamy Stadium and Byappanahalli. Tenders for this stretch were in the process of being finalised, Mr. Shrivastava said at a symposium on `Mass transit system,' organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The proposed fares had been pegged at one-and-a-half-times the existing bus fare, he said. For the first two km the fare would be Rs. 6; up to six km it would be Rs. 9; from 6 to 12 km Rs. 11; and above 12 km and up to 15 km Rs. 13. The maximum fare would be Rs. 30. Mr. Shrivastava said the metro rail, which is expected to be developed on standard gauge tracks, would help transport 8.7 lakh passengers a day and would provide social benefits of Rs. 1,200 crores a year.

Mr. Shrivastava assured members at the symposium that the construction of the metro rail would not cause more traffic chaos. "We will work mostly during the night to avoid traffic hassles," he said.

Task force

Shamim Banu, Principal Secretary (Urban Development), said a task force had been appointed to evolve a strategy for traffic solutions over the next 15 years. The report of the committee, which is expected at the end of the year, would suggest other public modes of transport, including the monorail and the elevated rail system, that could be used in the city as well as suggest pathways for these modes of transport.

Apart from this, she said, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Transport Department were carrying out a study on high capacity bus systems.

Mysore Nagaraja, president of MTA Capital Construction System of New York, suggested that the Bangalore metro rail system use a single fare ticket for transport on buses and the metro. The single ticket should have a validity of about two hours. The system of inter-linking public transport systems increased passenger usage, he said.