Trial runs on the much-awaited Purple Line extension of the Bengaluru Metro from Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield will begin in September, senior officials at the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation have stated.
Trials on the Purple Line between Baiyappanahalli and KR Puram will begin in September and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) hopes to complete the extension to Whitefield by December 2022, BMRCL managing director Anjum Parvez said.
We are planning to have the trial up to KR Puram in September and then let us see how much time it will take after. We are planning for completion by December, let us see, Parvez said. The Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield stretch runs over 15 km and will have two reaches – R1A, a stretch of 8.67 km running from Baiyappanahalli to Seetharama Palya, and R1B, a 7.14 km stretch from Seetharama Palya to Whitefield.
The trials in September between Baiyappanahalli and K R Puram on the R1A stretch will have one stop at Benniganahalli. The completed Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield stretch will also have stops at Mahadevapura, Garudacharpalya, Hoodi Junction, Seetharama Palya, Kundalahalli, Nallurhalli, Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Pattandur Agrahara, Kadugodi, Channasandra and Whitefield.
The extension from Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield is expected to benefit thousands of commuters on the stretch who are forced to spend over two hours in traffic on the stretch every day to get to Whitefield or travel to the city from Whitefield.
The BMRCL has, meanwhile, asked the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to hold the construction of two of seven flyovers for traffic on the Outer Ring Road on account of Metro construction. The metro rail corporation will jointly construct flyovers at the Sarakki and Ittamadu junctions after the Metro work is complete.
At seven locations where the BBMP was planning to build flyovers on the Outer Ring Road, we have given clearances for five flyovers. In the remaining locations, we have decided to go for combined flyovers. They are holding the work at Sarakki and Ittamadu and it will be done on the pattern of the Ragigudda-Jayadeva stretch, the BMRCL MD said.