Namma Metro To Bengaluru Airport: R.K. Hegde, Jakkur Route Dropped, Hebbal Under Consideration 

Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru may soon be connected with Namma Metro to the rest of the city.

The subject will be tabled for discussion before the cabinet within next two weeks. The decision was taken after Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara’s meeting with the officials of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

The Hindu quoted Ajay Seth, Managing Director of BMRCL as saying, “Building an elevated metro line between R.K. Hegde Nagar and Jakkur is not feasible. To expedite the project, we will submit a report in a week with an alternate alignment. Necessary clearance will be sought from the State and central government as well.”

BMRCL is now contemplating the Hebbal-Kempegowda International Airport route, re-alignments are being made after meetings with key stakeholders and opinions from the citizenry. The route of was one of the nine initial alignments proposed by BMRCL in 2016 and the initial projected cost was Rs 4,656 crore.

Phase 2 of Namma Metro which was estimated to cost Rs 26,405 crore is likely to rise up to Rs 32,000 crore. The upcoming deadlines have been pushed back. Now, the Gottigere-Nagavara line will be finished by 2023 and Kengeri-BIEC line is would be done by 2020.

Since manpower makes up for 34 per cent of the operational cost, Parameshwara informed BMRCL to work on cutting the expenses down in that area.