Namma Metro adds 6 stations to Purple Line

Kengeri metro line inaugurated, commercial operations from August 30

Namma Metro train being flagged off at Nayandahalli station by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, along with officials of BMRCL, on August 29, 2021.

After waiting for years, commuters will finally be able to travel on Namma Metro’s extended Purple Line from Mysuru Road to Kengeri when it commences operations on August 30 morning. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the extended line on August 29 and flagged off a train at Nayandahalli Metro station. They rode on the train till Kengeri TTMC metro station.

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Services will be operated between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m, and trains will run at a frequency of 10 minutes between Kengeri and Baiyappanahalli. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. had taken up the work on this stretch in 2016. There are six metro stations on the line: Nanyandahalli, RR Nagar, Jnanabharathi, Pattengere, Kengeri TTMC and Kengeri. The BMRCL has spent ₹1,820 crore for the building of the elevated line and ₹181 crore spent for land acquisition. On the same line, the metro line has been extended up to a distance of 2 km till Challaghatta, a deadline of March 2022 has been set to open this line.

The inaugural Namma Metro train approaching Kengeri station, which is part of the extension of the Purple Line, along the Bengaluru-Mysuru National Highway, in Bengaluru on August 29, 2021.

Has the govt revived the high-speed rail link project?

During his address, Chief Minister Bommai said that Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will be linked with three mass transit network they are sub-urban rail (Majestic to Devenahalli), Namma Metro (Silk Board to KIA) and high speed rail from city point to the airport. The CM also claimed that Bengaluru will be the only city in India to connect an airport with three types of mass transit systems.  Interestingly, in 2009 -2010, the then BJP government made attempts to implement the high-speed rail link project from MG Road to the airport. However, later citing high costs including land acquisition, the project was termed, 'non feasible' and dropped. Instead of the high speed rail link, BMRCL was asked to build a metro line to the airport.  BMRCL is constructing a 55 km metro line from Central Silk Board to KIA via KR Puram, Hebbal under Phase II A & B of Namma Metro project.

Though the CM announced the high-speed rail link, officials are clueless about the project. They said they are unaware of any plans to revive the project.