Bengaluru Namma Metro commercial operations are expected to begin on the extended Purple Line on Mysuru Road by the month of August, top officials said.
Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Anjum Parwez was quoted in an IE report saying that for safety inspections on the stretch between Mysore Road and Kengeri, officials were waiting for a date. Parwez further said all documents that were required have been already submitted to the CMRS (Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety). By next month, BMRCL can start commercial operations on this stretch after obtaining safety clearance from the CMRS, the MD added.
According to the report, with six metro stations on Namma Metro’s extended Purple Line- Nayandahalli, Jnanabharathi, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kengeri Bus Terminal, Pattengere and Kengeri, the extended route of 7.53 km length is expected to daily benefit 75,000 commuters. On this metro stretch, Namma Metro operations were initially scheduled to be in the year 2020 and then the date was pushed to the month of June as officials cited the second wave of the Covid-19 as well as unavailability of workers due to the Covid pandemic among reasons for the delay.
In the new metro stretch, the time of travel between Mysuru Road metro station and Kengeri metro station is expected to be approximately 15 minutes. To travel on Bengaluru Metro between Baiyappanahalli station and Kengeri station (the two metro stations that are located at different ends of the Purple Line), a passenger will have to pay an amount of Rs 56, the report said. The farthest a commuter could travel in Bengaluru Metro along the new stretch will be between Kengeri metro station and Silk Institute (on Namma Metro’s Green Line) metro station, costing an amount of Rs 60, the report added.