Namma Metro tunnelling work reaches crucial milestone

The Namma Metro reached another milestone on Monday when the tunnel boring machine-1 (Helen) reached its final breakthrough at 4 pm at the City Railway Underground Metro Station, after tunnelling 229 metres, below the City Railway Station yard.

It safely crossed 23 railway tracks to reach the pocket track (west of Majestic underground metro station). According to BMRCL officials, the tunnel boring machine 1 (Helen) started its operations of tunnelling on June 15, 2011 from Majestic East end.
The first breakthrough was achieved on March 3, 2012 at Sir M Visvesvaraya Underground Metro Station (Central College) after tunnelling 975 metres.

The second breakthrough was at Vidhana Soudha Underground Metro Station on December 26, 2012, tunneling 725 metres. The third was at Cubbon Road Underground Metro Station (Minsk Square) on July 25, 2013, tunnelling 459 metres from Vidhana Soudha. The fourth breakthrough was through the City Railway Station Underground Metro Station.

The entire tunnelling work in the East-West Corridor is now complete. With this, Namma Metro has moved another step closer to making the entire phase I operational by March 2015.

The underground station at Majestic is of immense importance since commuters will be able to change trains at this station, which will be an intersection for the North-South and East-West corridors.

Foot overbridge opened

The BMRCL authorities have opened for public the main foot overbridge (FOB), connecting the Baiyyapannahalli Metro Station to the other side of the Baiyyapannahalli Railway Station. This will make easy the crossing of the railway lines and platforms towards Kasturi Nagar.

The FOB was under construction for a year and a half now and will be a boon for residents wanting to catch a Metro or a train at the railway station, without having to walk with their luggage.