Mysuru Road-Magadi Road Metro stretch to open on Monday

The 6.4-kilometre Metro rail stretch between Mysuru Road and Magadi Road, Reach-2 on the elevated section of Phase I, will be inaugurated on November 16.

“Passengers will be allowed to commute in one or two days after the inauguration. We are working out the timetables and a just a little bit of finetuning has to be done. The trains will run at 10 minutes frequency and the fares will be identical to Reach one fares,” Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) Managing Director P S Kharola told Deccan Herald.

Bengaluru City Development Minister K J George inspected the Mysuru Road-Magadi Road stretch on Thursday and announced that the flag-off will be held at 4 pm on November 16. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu would be present during the inaugural run.

The timings and schedules for public use are being worked out. With this, a major section of the phase one East-West Corridor will now be open for passenger use in a day or two after the inaugural, according to Kharola.

BMRCL General Manager (Finance) Vasanth Rao said the flag-off would be held at the Magadi Road station and the public function at Nayandahalli station on Mysuru Road. “The minister wanted to see for himself whether BMRCL was really ready and whether the stations are in a working condition. On inspection, he found the stations were ready and also the stretch to be operational. He wanted to see the Nayandahalli station in particular.”

This elevated West line is part of Reach-2 of Phase I of Metro and some of the stations covered are Magadi Road, Hosahalli, Vijayanagara, Attiguppe, Deepanjali Nagar and (Nayandahalli) Mysuru Road. The trial run that began at a speed of five kmph was later increased to 25 kmph and finally to 80 kmph. After completion of trials, an independent safety certification and clearance from the Commissioner of Rail Safety was obtained.

While the stations are said to be ready, a lot of small work needs to be completed. Many stations have debris which need to be removed, re-painting has to be done to give a new, fresh look to the stations, footpaths underneath the station need to be touched up, cracks in some walls at some stations need to be attended to and the overall surrounding of the station needs to be spruced up to give the stations an attractive feel, source said.