The inauguration of the underground stretch of East-West corridor of the Bengaluru Metro has been further delayed due to the incompletion of the metro’s North-South corridor. The BMRCL received a green signal from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) last week but has to ensure the completion of certain guidelines issued by the Commissioner S.K. Mittal before the set the inauguration date.
“There is some work still going on in the North-South corridor. The finishing touches are expected to be completed by the end of this week. It is in the interest of the commuters that we are delaying the inauguration. We do not want to cause inconvenience to passengers who would have to interchange lines,” said V.A.Vasanth Rao, Chief Public Officer of BMRCL to The News Minute. He also added that there would be no further delay and both the Central and State government will be consulted on the inauguration date, after the completion of civil work.
"We have raised certain issues pertaining to Majestic intersection and that includes works on escalators, lifts and other pending works which need to be completed prior to commercial operations. There are no major issues in the other metro stations and the work is almost finished," said S K Mittal after inspecting the corridor for safety. Reports suggest that the BMRCL approached the CRS much before the completion of the civil work and hence has to ensure the completion of the mentioned guidelines.
The BMRCL has been missing the deadline for the operation of this East-West corridor for over two and a half years. This corridor is touted to be the longest corridor of the metro, stretches from Nayandahalli through Mysuru Road towards Baiyapanahalli. According to the action plan of BMRCL, the 18-km stretch should have been completed and ready for inauguration by 2013, and the construction of which started in 2011. Initially, the delay was due to oscillation and signal issues, and a significant deferment in the installation of escalators in the station.
The deadline for the corridor inauguration was pushed from the beginning of the year to April due to incompletion of civil work. A 4.8 km underground stretch is also a part of the corridor, which includes stations like the Cubbon Park, Central College and the Bangalore City Station where work like concourse the level of platform, the finishing of false ceiling and painting, and the installation of escalators are underway.
While the commercial operations of the corridor are expected to begin right after the inauguration, with the underground corridor made available for Reach 1 and 2, routes 3A and 3B along with Sampige Road and Jayanagar is expected to be opened much later in the year.