Bengaluru: Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, D V Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and B. S. Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka inaugurated the 6-km long Southern Extension line under Phase-2 of Namma Metro from Yelachenahalli to Silk Institute Metro stations by flagging off the train today. The inauguration of the Metro extension line and the FOBs today is a step towards the goals of Bengaluru Mission 2022 to enable faster commute and smart mobility options in the city.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase-2 covers a route length of 74 km with 62 stations and consists of extensions to both Purple and Green lines of Phase-1 in all the four directions totaling 34 km and two new lines viz. Gotigere-Nagawara for a route length of 21 km & R V Road- Bommasandra for a route length of 19 km. The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs. 30,695 Crores.The extension has 5 new stations beyond Yelachenahalli Metro Station on the currently operational line namely; Konanakunte Cross, Doddakallasandra, Vajarahalli, Thalaghattapura and Silk Institute. The extension is 6 km long elevated metro at the southern end of the currently operational 24.2 km long green (north-south) line. With this extension, N-S corridor will become 30.2 km long.The Elevated portion comprises of 213 spans. The work involves 1032 piles, 223 Piers and 1998 segments for superstructure and 665 no’s of girders in stations. Major materials like Concrete quantity of 2,10,965 cum and 20,500 MT of steel have been used in the works. For electrification works, signalling and Telecommunications, apart from ‘state of art equipment’, 765km of cable and wires of various sizes have been laid.Some of the features of the metro are:
- For convenience of passengers, each station is equipped with 8 Escalators and 4 Elevators, totalling to 40 Escalators and 20 Elevators respectively.
- All 5 stations of this extension line are going to have roof top solar power with total 1.2 MW capacity. The installation of the solar power plants is targeted for completionby March 2021. This is the first time Bangalore Metro is establishing the capacity for the solar power,
- Energy efficient LED lights have been provided at all 5 stations.
- All the stations are provided with entry/exits opening onto the newly provided service road. Bus bays, Pickup and Drop area for Taxi and Autos are all earmarked in the service roads.
- For Physically and visually challenged persons, all the facilities like ramps, lifts, separate toilets, tactile routing, and earmarked space in trains are provided.
Multi Modal Integration
Exclusive mode change service lanes have been created on both sides of the 5 stations to co-locate bus stands and provide space for intermediate public transport (IPT).
One Nation One Card
- Bangalore Metro has deployed state of the state-of-art-technology for Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) System, which supports travel using open loop NCMC ‘One Nation One Card’, in the 5 stations being inaugurated now.
- The AFC system at 40 stations of the currently operational 42 km long network is also being upgraded for the NCMC.
- The NCMC based ticketing service, including in Phase-1 Lines, is targeted to be available for travel within 15th August 2021. Thereafter, in the entire Metro network of 55 km in Bengaluru, including the western extension, the commuters can use Rupay card or any other NCMC compliant bank card to pay for their travel.