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Centre clears ₹14,888-cr B’luru Metro project
Bengaluru The Centre on Tuesday approved the Bangalore Metro Rail Project phase 2A and phase 2B, Union minister Piyush Goyal said
Bengaluru
The Centre on Tuesday approved the Bangalore Metro Rail Project phase 2A and phase 2B, Union minister Piyush Goyal said.
While the Metro rail project pase 2A is between Central Silk Board Junction and KR Puram, phase 2B is between KR Puram and the airport via Hebbal Junction. The total length of the project is 58.19 km with a total completion cost of the project pegged at around ₹14,888 crore.
“The Govt has approved Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase 2A from Central Silk Board Junction to K.R. Puram and Phase 2B from K.R. Puram to Airport via Hebbal Junction of total length 58 km. The total completion cost of the project is ₹14,788 Crore,” the office of Piyush Goyal, the minister of railways, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.
The proposal to fund the lines was made in the Union budget this year.
“Implementation of the project will provide the much-needed additional public transport infrastructure to Bangalore (Bengaluru),” a statement by the Union cabinet said.
“The Metro Project in itself is an innovation over the conventional system of urban transport. The project involves integration with other urban transport system in an efficient and effective manner which is possible only by adopting innovative methods of designing, technology and institutional management,” the statement added.
The approval of the two lines will breathe life into a project that aims to reduce the commute time for people traveling to the airport from the southern and eastern parts of the city.
The metro line between CSB and KR Puram is around 18 km and is expected to be completed by April 2025 and the line between KR Puram to the airport, which is around 38 km, is scheduled to be operational by September 2025, according to the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
With over 9.4 million vehicles in around 800 sq km, Bengaluru was adjudged to have the world’s worst traffic congestion in a 2019 survey by TomTom, a Netherlands-based global provider of navigation, traffic and map products. According to the ninth edition of TomTom’s Annual Traffic Index, Bengaluru beat 415 other cities across 57 countries to gain the infamous tag in 2019.
Successive state governments in Karnataka have continued to feed the metro as a possible solution for the growing congestion in the city, especially during peak hours.
However, the delays in completing Metro projects have added to the challenges of the city’s infrastructure and its plans to get more people to use public transport to bring down congestion and rising pollution levels.
“The project will streamline the urban transportation system in Bengaluru, which is stressed due to intensive developments, increase in the number of private vehicles and heavy construction in the city putting stress on travel infrastructure and industrial activities and to provide the people a safe, secure, reliable and comfortable public transport,” the Union cabinet note said.
The city administration is putting together plans to encourage more non-motorised transport (NMT) and other options to get more people on the public transport system and ditch their dependence on private vehicles.
“Union Cabinet approves two crucial Metro Rail routes in Phase 2A & 2B - from Silk Board to K.R. Puram & K.R. Puram to Intl Airport, of total length 58 km. This will boost public transport infra in Bengaluru. Thank you Hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji,” said a tweet from the official handle of the chief minister.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced more people to switch and depend on private vehicles to commute within the city for fear of contracting the infection in public transport like buses and the Metro.
