‘175-km new lines to be added to Bengaluru Metro by 2026’: Deputy CM D K Shivakumar

Earlier, Shivakumar took a ride along with MP Tejaswi Surya; Srinivasaiah, Nelamangala MLA; and Muniraju, Dasarahalli MLA from Yeshwanthpur Metro station to Madavara station.

The three-km stretch from Nagasandra to Madavara is all set to be open for revenue operations from Thursday, five years after its projected deadline and over a month after the clearance of the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety.

With 73.81 km already operational, Namma Metro is the second-longest Metro network in India, serving over eight lakh passengers daily on average. An additional 100 kilometre of Metro lines are currently under construction, the 19.15-km Yellow Line, the 21.26-km Pink Line and the 58.19-km Blue Line. With the recent approval of Orange Line (44.5km) by the Centre, the Metro network will expand to 222.2 km.

“We have completed the first and second phase of the Metro and the Centre has approved the 3rd phase. We have already paid up to Rs 1,130 crore for new train sets,” Shivakumar added.

“Plans are afoot to build a pedestrian skywalk at Manjunathanagar metro station. We have also entered into an agreement with Indian Railways to jointly develop pedestrian passage at Yeshwanthpur railway station. A project report has been prepared to develop an underpass at Chikkabidarakallu in association with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). We are also in discussion with NHAI to build an underpass at Madavara metro station. Commuters who travel to Bengaluru from Tumakuru side can park their vehicles at BEIC ground and take the metro to the city thus avoiding traffic,” he said.

Status of Metro lines

The construction of the Metro network in Bengaluru has been a daunting task given its lines cutting across the dense population of the city and the teething issues during land acquisition.

Additionally, the opening up of new lines as per projected deadlines is also amiss due to the shortage of rolling stock supply. For example, while 90 per cent of the civil works on the Yellow line between RV Road and Bommasandra via Electronic City is completed, BMRCL is struggling with the supply of rolling stock. The project has been stalled due to the delayed delivery of the 216 coaches from its rolling stock manufacturer Titagarh Rail Systems in West Bengal.

Under the agreement with BMRCL, Titagarh is responsible for producing 34 of the 36 train sets needed for the Yellow Line at its advanced manufacturing facility. Only two trainsets, comprising 12 coaches, will be manufactured in China. As per the DPR, Yellow line, which was to be constructed between 2012 and 2015 and commissioned by 2016, has missed several deadlines and is expected to be operational only in 2025.

Similarly, manufacturing for the Pink Line’s (Kalena Agrahara to Nagawara) train sets only commenced in August 2024, pushing the projected operational timeline to late 2026, despite previous targets indicating an earlier start. As per the DPR, the line was set to be commissioned by 2017, but missed several deadlines only to be pushed to December 2025 and now further to 2026.

Meanwhile, the Outer Ring Road metro line (Blue), between Central Silk Board Junction to KR Puram along the IT corridor was slated to be operational by 2023-24. However, BMRCL officials have missed the deadline yet again, pushing it to September 2026.

The deadline for the completion of Bengaluru’s most awaited Metro line connecting to Kempegowda International Airport is June 2026. The line is part of the Blue Line and will have 17 stations. The Airport Line has been delayed by a number of factors, including, a fatal accident in January 2023, following the collapse of Metro pier that killed a mother and her son, public opposition to Metro construction during night along Outer Ring Road and delay in shifting of public utilities.