BMRCL sets January deadline for Mysore Road-Byappanahalli route

Bengaluru: If things go as planned by BMRCL, people of Bengaluru should be able to travel from Mysore Road to Byappanahalli by January 2016 end. Currently, the track trial run in the east-west underground corridor is complete. Signal and communication testing will be taken up from the 10th of this month. BMRCL plans to finish the signal testing by this month-end and then call the Commissioner of Railway Safety by mid-January 2016.

BMRCL spokesperson Vasanth Rao said, “We are looking to complete the signal and communication trials by this month. In January we will carry out trials for the entire stretch from Mysore Road to Byapanahalli. We will invite the commissioner of railway safety by mid-January. Once he gives his nod to the stretch, it will be open for the public.” Initially, the line was scheduled for commercial use by November, then it was pushed to December and now to January 2016.

Ministers like K.J. George, including the Chief Minister, have time and again affirmed that the entire east-west corridor will be open for the public at least by January. However, experts feel this time too BMRCL will fall short in meeting the deadline. And that it will only be by February-end or March that the line from Mysore Road till Byappanahalli will be commercially functional.

The cost of Phase 1 has escalated by more than Rs 2000  crore. The project today stands at Rs 13, 805 crore. Until now only the metro has opened in parts, there are just five small stretches open for the public – namely, Reach 1 (MG Road to Byappanahalli, 6.7km), Reach 3 (Sampige Road to Yeshwanthpur, 5.1km), Reach 3a (Yeshwanthpur to Peenya Industry, 4.8km), Reach 3b (Peenya Industry to Nagasandra, 2.5km) and Reach 2 (Magadi Road to Mysore Road, 6.4 km).

Four major lines are yet to be completed and open for the public, namely, Reach 4 (National College to Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road), Reach 4a (Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road to Puttenahalli), UG 1 (North-South underground line) and UG 2 (East-West underground line). It will be interesting to see if BMRCL will be able to meet the deadline of June 2016 and finish the work on time.

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