Road
transport in the city of Bangalore, nee Bengaluru will be integrated smoothly
with another mode of transport -- Bangalore Metro. Compact BMTC bus bays
will be built at Metro stations and commuters can use the services of KSRTC, BMTC
and Metro Rail with a single ticket system.........A dream project to become a
reality shortly.
Several
MRTS proposals for Bangalore have been in the pipeline for nearly 24 years. In
1982, a study suggested that the MRTS should have a route length of 12.20 km.
and pegged the cost at Rs. 239.15 crores.
In
1983, the Metropolitan Transit Project, an organization of Indian Railways, prepared
a feasibility report for provision of suburban rail services on existing lines,
a circular railway of 57.9 km. metro system on two corridors, in Phase-I 12.9
km. from Rajajinagar to Jayanagar and in Phase - II 11.2 km. from Hudson Circle
to Krishnarajapuram. In 1988, a World Bank aided study was carried out by RITES
and the study recommended a Commuter Rail System along with improvement of road
transport system.
Later,
in 1994, the Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL) was incorporated by
the State Government to implement the mass rapid transit system. BMRTL in turn
asked the IL&FS to carry out a feasibility study for LRT System on Public-Private
Partnership. However, though the partner was selected, the project did not take
off. Later, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in partnership with RITES prepared
a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Bangalore Metro Rail, Phase I in 2003 at the
instance of the Government. It proposed two double line corridors: East-West (EW)
and North-South (NS) with a total length of 33 km.
The
Bangalore Metro Rail finally took shape with the Karnataka Government clearing
the project in March, 2005 and the Union Government giving its approval in April,
2006.The Bangalore Metro, was initiated to decongest the City traffic by providing
a public transport system. The project weaves through the bustling commercial
and residential areas of the City. The first phase of Bangalore Metro, consisting
of two corridors of double line electrified, will cover a total of 42.30 km with
an outlay of Rs 6,395 crore.
However
the traffic-weary Bangaloreans need to wait only till September 2012 for a breezy
ride on the entire network of the Namma Metro. And what’s more, take a train
every four minutes and it will be reduced to three minutes in due course. The
project is aimed at mass public transport and creating a pollution-free atmosphere.
The Completion schedule of 42.3 km ‘Namma Metro’ corridor is
*
Cricket Stadium and Byappanahalli: December 2010/January 2011
* Swastik to
Yeshwantpur to Hessarghatta Road: June 2011
* Underground section: June 2012
*
City Railway Station to Mysore Road: August 2012
* K R Road to R V Road Terminal
to Puttenahalli: September 2012
The Namma Metro Project, once commissioned, will reduce the load on Bangalore's
roads by 8 lakh vehicles, according to the government.
The
completed network will include two corridors, one running east to west connecting
Mysore Road and Deepanjali Nagar, and the other, the north-south corridor connecting
Yeshwanthpur and Jayanagar. The
proposed Metro will have two tracks: an 18.1-km stretch from Mysore Road to Byappanahalli,
and an 18.4-km stretch from Yeshwantpur to R.V. Road, both via the Kempegowda
bus terminus. The
travel time from one corridor to another will range between 28-30 minutes with
a carrying capacity of 40,000 peak hour peak direction traffic (PHPDT).
The
work on the first phase of the project would be completed by December 2011. The
first phase would have
an underground stretch of 6.76 km near the City Railway
Station, Vidhana Soudha, Majestic and City Market.
The
total stretch of the proposed metro rail network in the first phase would increase
from 33 km to nearly 40 km with the decision to extend the route from Yeshwanthpur
to Hessarghatta in "Reach - 5" of the first phase.
Along
old Madras Road up to junction of 100-ft Road, Indiranagar 100ft road to BM Sri
Circle
BM Sri Circle along CMH Road up to Aanjanappa Circle
Aanjanappa
Circle (Ulsoor) along SV Road up to Trinity Circle
Trinity Circle to Mayo
Hall
Mayo Hall-Cubbon Park along Bal Bhavan Road
Dr Ambedkar Road
(from MS Building up to KR Circle) along District Office Road-Post Office Road
Majestic Circle near SBM-KG Road
KSRTC bus stand-below railway station
Magadi road up to Leprosy Hospital
From Leprosy Hospital along
Magadi Road up to Tollgate (junction of Chord Road)
Along Chord Road up to
Mysore Road
Along Mysore Road up to Nayandahalli
The
Metro Rail plan with North-South and East-West corridors covering close to 37
km has underground stretches of 6.8 km with the rest either elevated or on road
surface level. The underground portion is mostly below Mahatma Gandhi Road and
Cubbon Park. From Mayo Hall to Leprosy Hospital, the route would be covered Underground
while the balance route would be Elevated or Ground level.
The
proposed Elevated/Underground route from North to South is :
From
Yeshwanthpur along Tumkur Road up to Soap Factory
From Soap Factory Circle along West of Chord Road up to Modi Hospital Road Junction
Along Mahakavi Kuvempu Road up to Railway Bridge at Malleswaram;Runs parallel
to railway track up to Swastik
From Swastik (Opposite Stadium) along
Platform Road
KSRTC bus stand-below East-West Corridor
Below Balepet-Nagarthpet-Arcot
Srinivasachar street
Below Vanivilas Hospital and become elevated at Bangalore
Medical College
KR Road (Near BMC) up to Vanivilas Circle
Along
VV Road up to Lalbagh West Gate
From West Gate along RV Road up to dead-end
of RV Road
In
the above, the route from Swastik to Bangalore Medical College would be underground
while the other route would be Elevated route.
The
north-south corridor between Peenya and J.P. Nagar and the east-west corridor
from Byapannahalli to Mysore Road will intersect at the metro interchange-terminal
to come up between the Bangalore City Railway Station and the Kempegowda Bus Station.
Office-goers can change over to another destination there with the waiting time
being less than 10 minutes.
The
Metro is expected to carry 40,000 passengers an hour in each direction. Initially,
there will be a service once in four minutes in each direction. Each train will
carry 2,068 commuters. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation officials say that when
fully operational, the partly underground system can transport 8.2 lakh passengers
every day. With stations located almost every five minutes and with barely 3 km
between each, getting from place to place will be easy. And with no parking hassles
either.
What
the metro will do is reduce the travel time by at least half for most commuters.
Being on dedicated tracks means no traffic signals or snarls at intersections
to make travel longer and tedious as on the roads. Despite flyovers and underpasses,
travelling on the city roads has not become any faster because of the sheer volume
of vehicles — 22 lakhs at the last count.
The
government also announced that instead of two Metro stations on the 100 Feet Road-CMH
Road stretch, there will only be one common station. These two roads will also
be widened by reducing the footpath width, in order to deal with potential traffic
problems. Rehabilitation allowance, or “hardship allowance” for affected
inhabitants of CMH Road and all other property losers, has also been planned at
a cost of Rs 30 crore.The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation is also proposing to
extend the network from Yeshwantpur to Peenya in North Bangalore, and from RV
Road to Banashankari bus stand.
M
G Road station
Among
other decisions taken on the Metro project, it was decided to limit the area acquired
for the station on M G Road to 1,533 sq metres, through acquisition of the Plaza
theatre building. Stations will be redesigned using lesser land for South End
Circle, and only vacant land will be acquired for the Trinity Circle station,
it was decided.
Promising
that the project would provide comfortable, quick, safe, economical and pollution-free
transport at an affordable cost, the corporation said initially — during
the year 2011 — the Metro will ferry 10 to 20 lakh passengers. This will
be increased to 19.72 lakh by 2021.
The
Route Map
The
East-West corridor will be 18.10 km. long, starting from Byappanahalli and terminating
at Mysore Road terminal, going via Old Madras Road, Indiranagar, C.M.H. Road,
Ulsoor, Trinity Circle, M.G. Road, Cricket Stadium, Vidhana Soudha, Central College,
Majestic, City Railway Station, Magadi Road, Hosahalli, Vijayanagar and Deepanjali
Nagar.
The
24.20 km. North-South corridor will begin at Hessarghatta Road Terminal and terminate
at Puttenahalli going via Mahalakshmi, Rajajinagar, Kuvempu Road, Malleswaram,
Swastik, Majestic, Chikpet, City Market, K.R. Road, Lalbagh, South End Circle,Jayanagar
and Puttenahalli.
Out
of the 42.30 km., 8.822 km. will be underground near City Railway Station, Vidhana
Soudha, Majestic and City Market and most of the rest will be elevated.
GAUGE : Standard
Gauge
TRACTION : 750V dc Third Rail
SPEED
Max : 80Kmph ; Sch. 32Kmph
NO. OF STATIONS : 41
TRAVEL
TIME : 33/44 Mins. (end to end)
