Metro track laying work begins

Metro track laying work begins

Staff Reporter
It is on between Trinity Circle and Anil Kumble Circle
— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

PUT ON THE FAST TRACK:Track laying work is on in the M.G. Road section of Metro in
BANGALORE: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has commenced laying the rail tracks for the Namma Metro track between Trinity Circle and Anil Kumble Circle on the elevated structure.

Bangalore Metro is putting the on-going works on a fast-track project to meet the December 2010 deadline for throwing open Reach 1 of Namma Metro between Cricket Stadium and Byappanahalli.

While track laying contract for Reach 1 has been given to ITD–ITD CEM, a joint venture company, the track solutions are being provided by Hyderabad-based Patil Rail Infrastructure Ltd. The Patil Rail Infrastructure Ltd. is providing ballast-less track solution ensuring maintenance-free tracks for Namma Metro.

Bangalore Metro official spokesperson told The Hindu that the contractor will lay the rails wherever the viaduct construction is complete on Reach 1. The viaduct is complete between Byappanahalli Depot and CMH Road Station, including Swami Vivekananda Road Station. However, the viaduct construction is going on between Trinity Circle Station and Ulsoor Station.

The spokesperson said the completion of the work on the station is not essential to lay the rails. Completion of the track portion is enough to lay the rails, he said. After bagging the contract to supply track solutions, Patil Infrastructure chairman L.S. Patil had, in September last, said that his company had supplied track solutions to Metros in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and also won the first-ever high-speed ballast-less track solution in India for Delhi Airport Express Link. He said the company would design and supply the Plinth System with fastening system for Bangalore Metro that can take trains up to a maximum speed of 90 kmph.

He had also said the contract for the entire Phase 1 of Namma Metro, valued at around Rs. 200 crore, would ensure laying of double tracks on 42.30-km route kilometre on Bangalore Metro's East–West and North–South corridors, including the North–South Extensions. Mr. Patil said the tracks are maintenance-free and have a lifespan of at least 40 years. He claimed that the Plinth System is a proven design used in more than 10 metro train projects across the world in different gauges.