Metro invites CRS to inspect Whitefield-KR Puram line after Feb 15

Namma Metro has invited the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to inspect the Whitefield-KR Puram line after February 15. The safety inspection will take about four days and if all goes well, Whitefield will be connected to the metro by March, a top official said.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is currently running trial runs on the 12.75-km line with two six-coach trains at a speed of 25 kmph, its managing director Anjum Parwez told DH. He said all crucial components would be completed by February 15 in time for the CRS inspection. If the CRS approves the line, commercial operations will begin in March, he added.

However, the 2.5-km KR Puram-Baiyappanahalli line will be ready only in June-July, according to Parwez. The BMRCL is in the process of launching an Open Web Girder (OWG) across the railway track in KR Puram to build the viaduct. It plans to launch the OWG by January 20 after getting clearance from the South Western Railway (SWR), which could come any day, Parwez said.

The 15.25-km Whitefield-Baiyappanahalli line is an extension of the existing Purple Line, which currently links Kengeri with Baiyappanahalli. Once operational, the Whitefield-Baiyappanahalli line will help solve traffic problems in Bengaluru’s eastern IT hub.

Direct access to ITPB

On Tuesday, the BMRCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Information Technology Park Limited (ITPL) to provide direct access from the concourse level of the Pattandur Agrahara metro station to the International Technology Park, Bengaluru, through a walkway.

The construction of the access infrastructure will be carried out by ITPB as per the designs approved by BMRCL. The walkway will help over 55,000 people working in ITPB reach their workplaces directly from the metro station.

The MoU is the first such agreement on the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield metro line, BMRCL said in a statement.

Metro accident: IISc report on Saturday

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will submit on Saturday a report on its investigation into the deadly metro accident, Prof Chandra Kishen J M of the Civil Engineering Department told DH. He said investigations were still ongoing and refused to share details.

The BMRCL also awaits the report of its internal technical committee on the accident. The committee consists of chief engineers from the safety, quality and work departments.

Bengaluru police have also commissioned an investigation into the cause of the accident by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad.

Asked about the IIT probe, Namma Metro boss Anjum Parwez said the police had launched their independent investigation because they had registered an FIR and named BMRCL officials in it. "Police cannot rely on our investigation," he said, adding that the separate inquiry doesn't reflect poorly on BMRCL.