Travelling in Bengaluru is likely to get easier next week with the opening of the Mysuru Road-Magadi Road stretch of the Namma Metro.

On Monday, CM Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the 6.4 km stretch which is part of the Purple Line from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road.

The Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) had cleared the stretch, which is part of the Namma Metro Reach-II stage, for commercial operations on August 27.

The stretch covers a total distance of 6.4 kms and has six stations— Magadi Road (near Leprosy Hospital), Hosahalli, Attiguppe, Vijayanagar, Deepanjali Nagar and Mysuru Road (Nayandahalli).

The union minister had said in September, that “The government should avoid delay to avoid escalation of cost. The government should monitor metro work on day-to-day basis.”

Earlier, there were several reports of losses caused due to the delay in construction by private contractors.

The first functional stretch of the Purple Line between Baiyappanahalli to M G Road (6.7 kms) began operating in 2011 after it was commissioned in 2003.

A Times of India report states that the total construction cost of the Namma Metro project doubled from Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 13,800 crore.