Metro Rail gets longer

Metro Rail gets longer
The Metro Rail length has been extended along both corridors to increase the number of passengers estimated to use it daily. R Jayaprakash reports


The Bangalore Metro Rail will chug a few miles further. In a bid to capture the catchment areas, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) will extend the tracks to the Outer Ring Road and Peripheral Ring Road on the north-south and east-west corridors in the first phase itself.
According to sources in the BMRCL, the board has given the nod to extend the link up to Hesarghatta Cross on the north end and Banashankari II Stage on south end; K R Puram on the east end and Nayandahalli on the west end.
"The board has in principal agreed to the extension of the links to the outer and peripheral ring roads. We will incorporate the changes in the proposal and send it to the government for approval next week. Around 5.6 km will be the additional rail length to connect Hesarghatta Cross for which a detailed project report has been finalised. Another study is underway to extend the link to Banashankari II Stage with an extension of 2.5 km on the same corridor. On the other corridor, we have conducted a feasibility study and plans are on to extend the track up to K R Puram and Nayandalli at the two ends. In all, the extended link will connect the Outer Ring Roads and Peripheral Ring Road at the Hesarghatta end", BMRCL sources said.
The move is to extend connectivity and increase the metro rail ridership. While the initial figure was pegged at one million passengers per day, it is now projected that it would go up by 1.15 million. "Since the ring road is connected on all the four terminal ends, it is easier to integrate other modes of transport, be it mono rail or BMTC bus service. A massive workforce heads towards Peenya, Yeshwanthpur and Whitefield, and having the metro rail to penetrate through traditional residential areas in the western and southern parts of the city will lead to more ridership", officials said.
Earlier, 33 km of total rail length was planned in the Phase I across the two corridors with north-south of 14.9 km and east-west of 18.1 km with 32 stops. Now, with the new extensions, it will be 36 stops with the extended rail length of around eight km. The Hesarghatta extension itself will cost the BMRCL an additional Rs 900 crores. However, the total cost for the new extensions is yet to be arrived at. Each km will cost the BMRCL Rs 150 crores apart from land acquisition.
The Reach One of Phase I between M G Road and Byappanahalli will be commissioned by March 2010 and the entire Phase I will be opened by December 2011.
Revised route
North-south
corridor
Hesarghatta Cross, Yeshwanthpur, Mahalakshmi Layout, Rajajinagar, Malleswaram, Majestic, Chickpet, City Market, K R Road, South End Circle, Jayanagar, R V Road Terminal and Banashankri II Stage.
East-west corridor
K R Puram, Byappanahalli, CMH Road, Ulsoor, Trinity Circle, M G Road, KSCA Stadium, Vidhana Soudha, Central College, Majestic, City Railway Station, Magadi Road, Tollgate, Hosahalli, Vijayanagar, Deepanjali Nagar, Mysore Road Terminal and Nayandahalli