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Tunnel borer Margarita arrives at Mantri station

East-West Metro from Mysuru Road to Baiyyappanahalli to open soon
Last Updated 07 November 2015, 20:35 IST

Citizens along the East-West Metro line can feel happy as the date for opening the corridor from Mysuru Road to Baiyyappanahalli is nearing announcement.

The green signal to the project has been given by BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola, after the completion of the commissioner of railway safety’s certification.

Speaking to the media on the occasion of the tunnel boring machine Margarita having reached the Mantri Square station on Saturday, Kharola said: “Everything is ready for the running of the East-West line. By January-end next year, trains will run. The commissioner for railway safety has also given the certification for the opening of the line. We will talk to the State and Central governments and decide on the inaugural date.”

The senior official said trials were taking place, and after Sunday, they expect the trains to run at 80 km an hour.

Margarita reached a milestone on Saturday when it emerged at the Mantri Mall station. It has been boring the tunnel from Majestic. The distance between Majestic and Mantri Mall is one kilometre.

Margarita had major wear-and-tear issues. This is normal as it had to work in rocky areas. The tunnel borer had stopped working for a while and refitting had to be undertaken after which it started its work again towards the Mantri Mall station. The work had to be undertaken originally by the TBM Godavari, but due to technical problems, it was later taken up by Margarita. The work was delayed almost by a year due to this problem.

With the arrival of Margarita at Malleswaram, the North-South corridor is now linked to the East-West line. And owing to the completion of the one-km line, it is possible to lay and fix the tracks. Once the tracks are fixed and trials are undertaken, it would be possible to run a full train service from Peenya to Majestic. The laying of tracks would be completed by February-March, Kharola said.

In all the tunnel work undertaken so far, the longest is the stretch between Majestic and Mantri Square, which is one kilometre. It has become possible now to complete the work on the North-South corridor, and for the first time, a link has been established between Peenya and Majestic, too.

In other tunnelling work, the Kaveri TBM is 200 metres from Majestic as it is proceeding from Chickpet.

In the North-South corridor, some more distance has to be covered. The Godavari TBM has to cover another 560 metres, while it has completed 400. It had broken down due to hard rock.

Officials now say there is no more hard rock. The work is slated to start in three or four days.

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(Published 07 November 2015, 20:35 IST)

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