Metro gets delayed again, now wait till March 2016

Bengaluru: Swati J, an HR professional, lives in Malleswaram and travels to Peenya for work. Earlier it took an hour for her to drive through chaotic traffic but now it barely takes 20 minutes to reach her office, thanks to Namma Metro. BMRCL is hopeful of replicating such stories across the city. MD Pradeep Singh Kharola said, "By December 2015, we will complete the civil works. By March 2016, we will be able to process for safety certification to open the Majestic intersection. Of the 42km network in Phase I, only 38km network will be thrown open to public. The 4km underground stretch between KR Market and Sampige Road will, however, be delayed.'' This means you can travel from Byappanahalli to Mysuru Road soon after March 2016 but not across the city, until the crucial tunnels between KR Market and Sampige Road are completed. The work has been delayed by a year now after tunnel boring machine, Godavari, got damaged. Union minister of urban development and parliamentary affairs, M Venkaiah Naidu promised Bengalureans that the city will benefit from the Metro by March 2016. "We will finish the first phase by end of 2015. '' He dedicated the 3.5km Metro line from Peenya Industrial Area to Nagasandra to industrial workers around the north-west corridor of the city on Friday. "Industrial workers and executives working in and around Peenya and Yeswanthpur and living in Rajajinagar or Malleswaram will benefit from it.'' Kharola said the Magadi Road-Mysuru Road stretch will be thrown open once the safety certification is done. BMRCL had set a date of June 2015 for it, but that is unlikely now. CM Siddaramaiah said three underpasses will be constructed between Yeswanthpur and Nagasandra for smooth commuting. BEML and Make in India Venkaiah Naidu said PM Narendra Modi's Make in India scheme will ensure that Metro coaches are only made in the country for various cities. Delhi Metro will get its 2,100 plus coaches for its three phase-network of which 1,850 are being indigenously manufactured. Three places in the country — BEML in Bengaluru, Alstom factory in Tamil Nadu and Bombardier's unit in Gujarat —will make this a reality, he said. BEML can produce 150 coaches per year. "Bombardier has already signed a contract with Australia to export 450 metro cars from their Indian unit while Alstom will supply 132. India shall emerge as manufacturing hub for the world given our advantages," Naidu added. -TOI