Ahead of the inauguration of the K.R. Puram to Whitefield Namma Metro line, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has decided to modify the names of six out of the 12 stations that will be thrown open to the public on March 26.
Metro officials said the changes in the names have been made for the benefit of passengers to easily identify the station with a local name.
Most significantly, the name of the K.R. Puram station has been changed to Krishnarajapura (K.R. Pura). It is said that BMRCL had received a requisition from Kannada organisations to change the name to Krishnarajapura.
Krishnarajapura is an inter-change station; it will help people travel towards Whitefield and Baiyappanahalli once the entire Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield line gets operational. In future, after the ORR-airport (Central Silk Board to Kempegowda International Airport) line opens, people can also use the station to travel towards the airport and Central Silk Board, Electronics City or Jayadeva Hospital.
A senior official of BMRCL said: “Changes in the names of stations were brought in after getting clearance from the State government. In the case of K.R. Puram, the new name is Krishnarajapura. This is because, in government records too, the local name is Krishnarajapura”.
The other changes are Mahadevapura to Singayyappanapalya, Hoodi Junction to Hoodi, Kadugodi to Kadugodi Tree Park, Channasandra to Hopefarm Channasandra, and Whitefield to Whitefield (Kadugodi).
This is not the first time that BMRCL has changed the names of stations on the extended Purple Line, built under Phase II of Namma Metro.
A few years ago, BMRCL changed the names of many stations that were mentioned in the detailed project report (DPR). For example, Seetharamapalya was referred to as Visvesvaraya Industrial Area, and Nallurhalli used to be Vydehi Hospital.
On March 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to open the 13-km line from K.R. Puram to Whitefield. The line will be open for public use from March 26.
BMRCL will run five trains on the line with a frequency of 10 minutes, and the time taken to travel between two destinations will be 23 minutes.
The 2-km line from Baiyappanahalli to Krishnarajapura is likely to open by mid-year. Between the two stations, a new station — Benniganahalli (previously known as Jyotipuram) - will be opened.
