N Sivasailam, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on Wednesday said the North line of the Namma Metro between Sampige Road and Peenya will be taking more passengers and it would provide a major relief for commuters.
Delivering a talk on “Namma Metro and Challenges” organised by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), Sivasailam said statistics from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) show that there were five lakh footfalls every day on public transport. “With such a large number of people using public transport on this stretch, certainly the Metro line would be a major help as a mass transport. Certainly, there will be more users than what we have on the Reach 1 stretch between MG Road and Baiyyappanahalli,” he said.
Green Line of Namma Metro (part of Reach 3) is expected to open operations by July this year. The talk was part of a new lecture series “Practice in public spaces” launched by the IIMB.
Sivasailam said the traffic movement below the Metro corridor between MG Road and Baiyyappanahalli has been smooth after the Metro operations began last year. “In fact, there has been no accident reported on the road below the corridor,” he said.
No PPP model
Asked about Namma Metro Phase II, Sivasailam said all the ministerial approvals have been done for the project and they are hoping for the final nod before the Assembly elections are announced in the State. However, plans to take up Phase II on public-private partnership (PPP) model has been dropped. “The decision not to go for PPP was taken at a recent Board meeting of the BMRCL. Instead, we will look at the EPC model (Engineering, Procurement and Construction), which is being followed for Phase I,” he said.
The BMRCL had planned to construct two lines- IIM-B to Nagavara and Jayanagar to Electronic City, under Phase II, on a PPP model.
Sivasailam said the board thought it was better to wait for the Delhi- Airport Line and the Hyderabad Metro PPP model before implementing it here in Bangalore. “We will instead look at an EPC model to fund phase II," he added.