Bengaluru: Many questions remain unanswered on the elevated Metro corridor between the Silk Board junction and KR Puram. The BMRCL aims to achieve the extraordinary task of building the Metro track, going above the four-lane Silk Board flyover, which is at a height of around 50 feet.
“The Silk Board station is the interchange point for Metro trains coming from RV Road, Bommasandra and KR Puram. There is no clarity in the BMRCL report on what height the other two stretches will be built when connecting the 100 foot high Silk Board station," said Mr Srinidhi, an expert from the advocacy group Praaja.
Pointing out this engineering problem, he said, “They cannot have pillars holding the Metro line, emerging from the Silk Board flyover. The BMRCL will probably use a Cantilever bridge, supported from one side. But it may not be possible as the Silk Board station will handle double the traffic.”
Commuters travelling from Jayanagar, RV Road, Electronic City and KR Puram will all be interchanging at Silk Board, making it a high-density station. If the lines are at different levels, Silk Board to BTM would be a roller coaster drop. If the lines are a the same level the it would mean a major part of Phase 2 will be at 100 feet high in the air, requiring escalators and lifts to take commuters all the way up, to elevated stations.
When DC contacted BMRCL CPRO Vasanth Rao, he said, “The tickets can be bought at the concourse level of Silk Board station and an escalator will take the commuters up to a higher level, where the Metro runs above the flyover.
If the BMRCL pulls this off, it will be an achievement. However, how they will find enough space for the wide concourse station, connecting BTM (from RV Road) and Bommasandra line remains to be seen.
