Bengaluru: Purple Line Extension To Begin Commercial Operation In March, First Of Three New Lines Set To Start In 2023

Namma Metro has invited the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to inspect the 13 km Whitefield-KR Puram line after 15 February.

The safety inspection will take four days to complete.

The KR Puram to Whitefield line is a part of the Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield line (Purple line extension) under Phase II. 

The 13 km stretch of the 15 km line is set to be inaugurated in March, if everything goes as planned.

“Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is currently running trial runs on the 12.75-km line with two six-coach trains at a speed of 25 kmph,” said BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez, reports Deccan Herald. 

All crucial components would be completed by 15 February in time for the CRS inspection. If the CRS approves the line, commercial operations will begin in March, he added.

Currently, the Purple Line is 25.7 km long and spans 23 stations from Kengeri in the southwest to Baiyappanahalli. The Purple Line is mostly elevated, with 17 elevated stations, five underground stations and one at-grade station.

The completed Byappanahalli-Whitefield stretch will include stops at Mahadevapura, Garudacharpalya, Hoodi Junction, Seetharama Palya, Kundalahalli, Nallurhalli, Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Pattandur Agrahara, Kadugodi, Channasandra and Whitefield.

In October 2022, BMRCL commenced the trial runs on a 3.5 km stretch between Whitefield and Pattandur Agrahara. The trial runs were subsequently extended up to KR Puram.

BMRCL is proposing to open the remaining 2 km stretch (KR Puram to Baiyappanahalli) by June this year.

While most of the civil work on the stretch is complete, construction of an open web girder over the railway track near Benniganahalli, which needs to be executed in tandem with railway authorities, is pending. BMRCL expects the missing part to be completed by the end of this month.

Until the entire stretch is open, the BMRCL will operate bi-directional feeder services between Baiyyappanahalli and KR Puram to benefit metro passengers.

Once the Whitefield line is fully operational, metro ridership is expected to increase by 3.5 lakh as it connects Whitefield, a major IT corridor and residential hub, with most of Bengaluru.

The 15.25 km Purple Line extension project has repeatedly faced delays due to legal wrangling between environmental and local authorities, over relocating around 60 trees near Benniganahalli Lake. 

The BMRCL has requested that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) postpone the construction of two of seven flyovers for traffic on the Outer Ring Road, due to metro construction.

Following the completion of the metro, the BMRCL will jointly construct flyovers at the Sarakki and Ittamadu junctions.