JOIN USOn the eve of the inauguration of the east-west corridor of Namma Metro on Friday, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director P S Kharola placed some important facts before the public.
“When we started working on the tunnel, we had 104 foreigners. Now, we have 10. All the stations have been made on a cut-and-cover basis (underground). We cut the ground above the stations and constructed the stations before putting them back again. Almost all the underground stations are 300 metres long and 25 metres wide on the east-west corridor. We had to conduct 10,000 controlled blasts to get rid of hard rocks,” Kharola told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
He said the total surface area at the Majestic station was very large. “We used 1 lakh cubic metres to build the metro station. It has 12 staircases, 18 escape routes and 24 escalators.”
Smart card fares
The smart card fares are cheaper than bus fares because of a 15% discount offered on the cards. Service providers will be able to bid and rent space for mobile coverage in the underground section, Kharola announced.
Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said the public-private partnership model (PPP) had been used wherever required.
“Wherever possible, we have created parking space and logistics with the help of the PPP model,” he said.
The commercial operations of the east-west corridor will take off on April 30 at 6 am. The inauguration is on April 29 at 6 pm, which will see the presence of Union Urban Develpment Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister George and a host of other dignitaries including BJP leaders Jagadeesh Shettar and Ananth Kumar and the mayor and the deputy mayor. Siddaramaiah and Venkaiah Naidu will flag off the train.
It will depart from the Majestic station and reach the Vidhana Soudha station in a few minutes and the VVIPS will be able to go for a ride. Invitees can later take trains for the rest of the day till 10 pm.
Passengers who travel from Mysuru Road to Baiyappanahalli and vice versa can do so without having to change or catch another link. They can save precious travel time and get to either of the final destinations in just 33 minutes. This means saving fuel and a big stress-buster which has been driving Bengalureans crazy for years now.