METRO RAIL ON FAST TRACK

METRO RAIL ON FAST TRACK
Looking ahead: Phase-II talks already on
The Times of India

Bangalore: As chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was giving his final nod for the phase-I of the Metro Rail, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) has already started talks for Phase-II. This will link Central Silk Board junction, Yelahanka and Whitefield.

V Madhu, BMRC managing director, said the interim report of the comprehensive traffic and transportation survey undertaken by Rail India Techno and Economic Services (RITES), indicated that M G Road will be linked to Silk Board junction, Majestic to Yelahanka and Byapanahalli to Whitefield.

The report also recommended ssscorridors for Mono Rail to ease traffic density on various routes. However, connecting Silk Board junction to Electronics City will be a problem due to the stilt road which is under construction. This causes space constraints for Metro. Authorities are, however, putting their heads together to come up with a plan to link Electronics City via Metro.

Madhu said, “Wherever there is more than 20,000-25,000 peak-hour, peak-direction traffic (PHPDT), Metro Rail systems are built. As an extension of Phase-I, Yeshwantpur will be linked to Peenya at the cost of about Rs 100 crore. BMRC has defence land to construct a depot on that corridor.

The physical work for Phase-I is expected to commence by October or November. The firms shortlisted from the list of applicants for general consultants will also be finalised.

Work orders to the general consultants will be given by Octoberend. Work will take place between 10.30 pm and 6 am every day, so that the city traffic is not disturbed during the project.

WHO THEY ARE
List of consortium who have submitted applications to be general consultants for Metro Rail project
1
Meinhardt Singapore in association with Queensland Rail (Australia) SAA Architects, Singapore Hoadley Budge Olphert + Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs (S) Ltd, KPK Quantity Surveyors Singapore Ltd
2
Louis Berger Group Inc USA Mott Mac Donald Ltd UK MTR Corporation Hongkong Dalal, Mott Mac Donald, India
3
RITES PCI Japan PB Group, USA Cistra, France
4
CPG Consultants India Ltd, Singapore MSI Global Ltd, Singapore SECON Surveys Ltd, India TCE Consulting Engineers, India
5
Second Survey & Design Institute, China
SOWIL, India
Shirish Patel, India
6
Consulting Engineers Services (India) WSP Group International Ltd (UK) Tonichi Engineering Consultants Inc, Japan Katahira and Engineers Ltd, Japan Arup, Hongkong
7
Semaly-Aegis, France
Gadish Engineering, Isreal
Span Consultants, India
8
Engineers India Ltd, India Dweoo Engineering Company, Korea International Railway and Solutions (IRENS), Korea
9
SNC Lavalin International INC, Canada Aarvee Associates, India NICE, India, PSP, Germany

Lane by lane
According to V Madhu, 28 acres of private land acquisition will be completed over next three months.

It will be done in accordance with rehabilitation package cleared by government.
BMRC will discuss package with affected parties and assure them that it’s for public good. 1,400 property owners have aired objections about the entire 33-km stretch of Metro Rail system. Madhu is going to the capital next week to finalise the Rs 1,800 crore JBIC loan which has been committed for the project. Karnataka and Centre together are contributing Rs 3,519 crore. Balance Rs 1,000-odd crore will come from UTI which is leading a 15-bank consortium.