Three more TBMs arrive to dig metro tunnels under Reach 6

About four months after the first tunnel boring machine started work at the Cantonment metro station, three more TBMs have arrived in the city to speed up the work on 13.9-km underground section of metro’s Reach 6 line between Gottigere and Nagawara (21.25 km).

While the first TBM ‘Urja’ has bored a 200-metre section from Cantonment towards Shivajinagar, ‘Vindya’ which started on the same route a little later has tunnelled 100 metres. TBM ‘Avani’ has completed a 150-metre stretch from Shivajinagar towards Rashtriya Military School.

One TBM will be deployed on the Dairy Circle-Mico Industry stretch while two others will work their way towards Rashtriya Military School. Afcons Infrastructure Ltd has won the contract for the 3.65-km underground section between Dairy Circle and Rashtriya Military School along with three stations.

The TBMs are being supplied by German-company Herrenknecht though many of its parts are made in China. The TBMs left China and reached the Chennai port two weeks ago and started their journey to Bengaluru on Saturday. The BMRCL plans to use nine TBMs for Reach 6, the work on which has been awarded in four packages. As per the July 31 announcement, Reach 6 line is expected to open in June 2024. The overall cost of Namma Phase 2 has been revised to Rs 30,695 crore.