All civil and electrical works of the first phase of Namma Metro will completed by January 2017 and commercial operations will begin by April 2017.
Earlier, entire Phase 1 of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), covering 42.3 km, was scheduled to commence operations on Kannada Rajyotsava Day. Owing to difficulty in drilling work of the tunnel, there will be a delay of at least five months in commencing full-fledged operations, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister chaired a meeting of city legislators and BMRCL officials. He said 33-km out of the 42.3-km network of Phase I has been completed. BMRCL was facing problems in connecting the 15-meter underground work at Majestic, due to which the work was delayed. All civil and electrical works would be completed by January and trial run would be done in February and March. The section is likely to be opened to public by April 2017, he said.
The total project cost works out to Rs. 13,800 crore, of which the state government has borne Rs. 5,335 crore. The Centre and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided financial support to the project.
Currently, 1.80 lakh passengers have been utilising Namma Metro services. About five lakh passengers will be able to use the services once the completed Phase 1 is thrown open to the public, he added.
