Work starts on Bengaluru metro's 1st platform screen doors

Bengaluru: In a first for Bengaluru, Namma Metro is set to introduce platform screen doors (PSDs) on the under-construction Pink Line stations and has installed a mockup at MG Road, three officials in the know said. 

With civil work nearing completion on the 21.26-km Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara Pink Line corridor, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is undertaking track-laying and systems work, including PSD installation, at the stations. 

Platform screen doors/gates are synchronised with train movements as they open only when a train is correctly positioned at the platform. They also prevent passengers from falling or jumping onto the tracks — incidents that have repeatedly occurred in recent times. 

In underground stretches, they also help improve climate control by limiting air exchange between stations and tunnels, lowering energy consumption. 

Many metro stations in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai have PSDs/PSGs but none of Bengaluru’s existing 83 metro stations has them. 

The BMRCL recently installed a mockup or replica of the PSD — supplied by subcontractor Panasonic from China— at the Pink Line’s MG Road station. 

“We have installed the mockup for experimental purposes. After testing and authorisation, we will start installing PSDs at all 12 underground stations. The process will take six months,” a senior BMRCL official with knowledge of the matter told DH. 

Each PSD will be about 2.15 metre high and each PSG 1.4 metre, spanning the six-coach platform’s full length of 128 metres. Their cost per station is estimated at Rs 9 crore. 

In June 2024, French company Alstom Transport secured a €96.2 million contract to design, manufacture, supply, install, test and commission a fully automated Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system for Pink and Blue lines, covering 80.39 km. The contract also includes PSDs for Pink Line’s 12 underground stations and the Blue Line’s airport terminal station, and a PSG at the Airport City at-grade station. The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

The BMRCL also plans to install PSDs on the Purple Line at Majestic and Central College. The Konappana Agrahara station, funded by Infosys Foundation, will get PSGs. 

Meanwhile, systems work on the Pink Line — covering all electrical, electronic and mechanical installations — is expected to take another six months, as each system needs to be installed, tested and integrated. The Pink Line will open in two phases. The 7.5-km Kalena Agrahara-Tavarekere stretch is expected to open in May 2026 and the Dairy Circle-Nagawara section (13.76 km) in December next year.