Cabinet okays new airport Metro, suburban rail line

The much-awaited Metro line to the Kempegowda International Airport will now be longer by eight km as the state Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to change its alignment.

The Cabinet also approved a feasibility study to provide suburban rail connectivity around Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 23,093 crore.

“These decisions are a new year’s gift to Bengaluru,” Cooperation Minister Bandeppa Kashempur told reporters.

The new Metro alignment to the airport will start at Krishnarajapuram, touch Hebbal via Nagawara and turn right thereon. The earlier alignment was an extension of the Gottigere-Nagawara stretch (Reach 6 of Phase II) — after Nagawara, it was supposed to pass via RK Hegde Nagar without connecting Hebbal junction.

Earlier, the line ran at 29.8 km and with this change, the length has increased to 38 km. The estimated cost is now Rs 10,584 crore from the earlier Rs 5,950 crore.

“Earlier, the line went through Nagawara, Hegde Nagar and Jakkur. Now, it is Nagawara, Hebbal and Jakkur. We will have an additional station in Kodigehalli, while Nagawara will be the interchange station,” Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation MD Ajay Seth told DH. The line will also have a non-stop service from Central Silk Board to the airport, he added.

The Cabinet, Seth said, also approved going ahead with land acquisition, utility shifting and other work pending approval from the Centre.

Further, the Cabinet cleared a revised financial plan for the Metro Phase 2A (Central Silk Board to Krishnarajapuram) to Rs 5,994 crore from the earlier Rs 4,202 crore. Lastly, the Cabinet cleared an additional Metro station at Challaghatta at a cost of Rs 140 crore. “The estimated cost is Rs 23,093 crore, of which the state and Centre will each bear 20%. The rest will be raised through loans,” Kashempur said.