Union Urban Affairs and Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that the 56-km Outer Ring Road metro line to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport has been finalised by the Urban Affairs Ministry. The project plan was sent to the Public Investment Board (PIB) for clearance by the Ministry of Urban Affairs. The Union Minister was speaking to the media after participating in the inaugural event of the Yelachenahalli-Silk Institute metro line from New Delhi through video-conferencing.
Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited Managing Director Ajay Seth told the media that the PIB would send a memorandum to the Union Government after they approve it. “We are expecting to receive clearance in two-three months,” Seth told reporters during the same event.
The airport line includes two phases — Central Silk Board to KR Puram (Phase 2A) and KR Puram to Kempegowda International Airport (Phase 2B).
Meanwhile, the Yelachenahalli-Silk Institute line of the metro is the first corridor under Phase 2 of Namma Metro. Phase 2 was sanctioned in 2014 and was supposed to be completed by 2018, but got delayed. This line is an elevated extension of the pre-existing Green Line route.
The development comes days after the South Western Railways started train services to the international airport in the city from January 4, 2021. A total of five trains are being run between the city and the airport halt station. By the end of 2023, another train line to the airport as part of the recently approved dedicated suburban rail project is also expected to be ready. That line is expected to run trains faster and frequently.