The Metro Killer of Bangalore

Well, this blog keeps on talking about the traffic and other allied issues of the Bangalore. So, one more addition to that, we are going to discuss about the Metro Killer of the city. The title, I guess, it's pretty interesting and it took me five long hours to think of the title, too much, I guess! So, let me break the suspense and of course, the Metro Killer of the city is the Elevated Corridor. The Elevated Corridor, which has got a lot of opposition from the civilians(Like me) of the city, has resulted in scrapping and truncating of a few planned lines of Namma Metro.

As we all know, Namma Metro has successfully finished its Phase 1(Of course, after a lot of missed deadlines and hitches) and it's heading towards connecting more localities. Namma Metro Phase 2 construction has begun and let's look at  few recent updates(As I've seen) of Phase 2:

1. West extension of Purple Line(Mysuru Road-Kengeri): IL&FS is the contractor and was recently fined with ₹ 1 crore for the delay by BMRCL. One can expect the line to be open by 2020.
2. East extension of Purple Line(Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield): The construction is being undertaken by ITD CEM JV and except for some hitches regarding land acquisition between Baiyappanahalli and Krishnarajapuram, the work is happening at a very swift pace in this stretch. 
3. South extension of Green Line(Yelachenahalli-Anjanapura Township): The construction is being undertaken by Nagarjuna Constructions and one can expect this stretch to be operative by 2020. 
4. Yellow Line(Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road-Electronic City): The work between Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road and Silk Board is being taken up by HCC-URC and road widening and viaduct work is in progress. We recently came up with a news of demolition of flyover near Jayadeva Junction for the same. One can expect this section of Yellow Line to be finished by 2022/23. The other segment, i. e., Silk Board to Electronic City is being constructed by ITD CEM JV. At some places, the land acquisition is still going on, but, it has seen very good progress in terms of construction of pillars and one can expect to travel through this stretch by 2021.
5. ORR Line Segment(Krishnarajapuram-Silk Board): The tender is not yet assigned, but, floated and IL&FS emerged as the lowest bidder.
6. North extension of Green Line(Nagasandra(Hesaraghatta Cross)-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre(BIEC)): The tender is allotted to Simplex Infra and the work is in progress. Though slow, the stretch is pretty short and one can expect this stretch to be opened for public use by 2022.

So, most of the stretches of Namma Metro Phase 2 are being constructed at a very slow pace and the reason is better known only to the constructors and the Government. And, alongside, there's new tender allotted for Elevated Corridor, which is expected to consume upto 3100 trees if the construction starts. This has been the reason for anger of many civilians of the city. This Elevated Corridor is also expected to eat up half or more parts of Cubbon Park which can better be called the lungs of the city. So, people are opposing the city's so-called "Development-friendly" project, but, there's one more added reason for the anger of the civilians. The other reason is that these Elevated Corridors have consumed up two of the Namma Metro stretches.

Namma Metro Phase 3, when proposed and checked for feasibility by RITES Ltd., in the network of Phase 3 measured around 127 km. But, after the recent budget, it's very clear that there's no mention of two of the stretches of Namma Metro Phase 3, which were supposed to go right along the proposed Elevated Corridor. These two stretches are:

1. Carmelaram(Sarjapura)-Yelahanka(32 km)(Via Iblur(ORR Line), Dairy Circle(Red Line), Town Hall(Marathahalli-Hosakerehalli Line), Central College(Purple Line), Mekhri Circle, Hebbal(ORR Line))
2. Marathahalli-Hosakerehalli(21 km)(Via Seetha Circle, Krishnarajendra Market(Green Line), Town Hall(Carmelaram-Yelahanka Line), Vellara Junction/Shoolay Circle(Red Line))

These two stretches, of which, the first one would traverse through the CBD of Bangalore from Carmelaram to reach Yelahanka and the second one would connect Hosakerehalli and Marathahalli both on ORR Line segments via Old Airport/HAL Main Road, would have reduced the traffic faced by the city a lot, but, now, the former is truncated to Carmelaram-Iblur, while the latter has been completely scrapped by the Government in order to construct Elevated Corridors and force people to use road to transport throughout the city. This will hinder the development of the city and will make the city less sustainable. Also, this will never reduce the traffic.

Namma Metro Phase 3 Network Map

There are also people who say that these Metro lines would have marked end of a lot of trees, too. But, though it'll be late, just think over a few questions: 

1. Is there any rule that Underground Metro should be constructed only in CBD of a city? 
2. Is there any rule that there should only be elevated Metro in non-CBD? 

If you answer No to all of these questions, then, you've understood my point. So, why can't they implement this? Of course, they've experts and very capable human capital working with the Government and I'm sure they'd have thought of this. But, the reason behind not implementing is well known to the Government itself. This will obviously save a lot of trees! 

Carmelaram-Yelahanka Line would have run parallel to Hebbal-Silk Board section of Elevated Corridor and Marathahalli-Hosakerehalli Line would run along East-West Elevated Corridor. These Metro lines would have further connected the areas like Koramangala, Dairy Circle, Town Hall Junction, Mekhri Circle etc., but, truncating and scrapping these lines has disheartened a lot of civilians of the city.

I'm not against the development and prosperity. But, I'm against the statement of "Elevated Corridor for prosperity," which is being publicised by the Government. I believe in Public Transport and I'm very sure that a Mass Rapid Transit system like Namma Metro, with a lot of potential, can efficiently solve the traffic issues that the city is facing today. What we would ask the Government is to construct Namma Metro and concentrate fully on Namma Metro and if Namma Metro fails to resolve the traffic issues, then think of other alternatives. But, for now, the most sustainable option we have is Namma Metro and no one can say no to this. So, let's save trees, Namma Metro and liveability of Bangalore by killing the Metro Killer, Elevated Corridor. 

Please do let me know what you think through the Comments section. 

Namma Metro Phase 2: My key takeaways

Namma Metro, the mass rapid transit system of Bangalore has become the people's choice in the city considering the terrible traffic we have in the city. Namma Metro has become the travel partner of many people of the city and that too, with just two lines and 41 stations across 42-odd-km-length! As of now, the network we have is the fourth longest in India, but, a year back, it was the second longest after Delhi Metro, but, due to delayed tenders, delayed civil work and negligence of the Government.

Now, Namma Metro is ready to put it's second big step with Phase 2. Namma Metro which caters around 4,00,000 passengers everyday, is set to spread it's wings across the unconnected areas of the city with Phase 2.

So, let's see the timeline of Phase 2. The Government approved Phase 2 in Jan. 2011(Yeah, 8 years back and still not executed!) and asked DMRCL to submit Detailed Project Report(DPR). In-principle clearance was given by High Power Commission(HPC) and Government of Karnataka in Jul. 2011 and Jan. 2012 respectively. The project was cleared by Expenditure Finance Committee(EPC) in Aug. 2013 and was pegged at a cost of ₹ 26,405 crores and the Union Cabinet approval was obtained in Jan. 2014. So, everything was set five years back, yet, we don't have even a single stretch completed! The price escalation is estimated at 5% every year! Experts opined that the estimated cost of the project will reach ₹ 30,000 crore by the time the project will be started! Finally, in Oct. 2018, DyCM of Karnataka announced that the cost will be ₹ 32,000 crores.

Phase 2 in numbers:

1. Number of stations: 61
2. Number of elevated stations: 49
3. Number of underground stations: 12
4. Total length: 72.1 km
5. Total length(Underground): 13.8 km
6. Total length(At grade): 0.5 km
7. Total length(Elevated): 57.8 km
8. Number of stretches: 6
9. Budget: ₹ 32,000 crore(Estimate, 2018)

So, what are the new lines and stretches? Let's see:

1. Nagasandra(Hesaraghatta Cross)-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre(BIEC, near Tumkur Road NICE Jn.)(Extension of existing Green Line on North side): Consists of 3 new stations and is around 3.5 km long. 
2. Mysuru Road-Challaghatta(Kengeri)(Extension of existing Purple Line on West side): Consists of 6 new stations and is around 8.8 km long. 
3. Baiyyappanahalli-Whitefield(Extension of existing Purple Line on East side): Consists of 13 stations and is around 15.5 km long.
4. Yelachenahalli-Anjanapura(Near Kanakapura Road NICE Jn.)(Extension of existing Green Line on South side): Consists of 5 new stations and is 6.3 km long. 
5. Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road-Bommasandra(Yellow Line): Consists of 16 new stations, around 18.8 km and interchanges with:
1. Existing Green Line at Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road
2. Upcoming Red Line at Jayadeva Jn.
3. Upcoming ORR Line at Silk Board
6. Gottigere-Nagawara(Red Line): Consists of 18 stations and interchanges with:
1. Existing Purple Line at Mahatma Gandhi Road
2. Indian Railways at Bangalore Cantt.
3. Upcoming Yellow Line at Jayadeva Jn.

Namma Metro: Phase 2 route map

Later, in Sept. 2016, then CM of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, announced a fully elevated, 17 km long line connecting Krishnarajapuram and Silk Board via ORR. This will cover many major areas of Bangalore experiencing heavy traffic everyday. This is allocated under Phase 2A. This will interchange with Indian Railways and existing Purple Line at Krishnarajapuram and upcoming Yellow Line at Silk Board. In January 2019, when the GoK revamped the whole route of connecting Airport(Before, it was planned as an extension of Red Line from Nagawara), connecting Airport from Krishnarajapuram. The new, finalised route is a part of Phase 2B and is expected to be opened to public by 2023. The new line will start from Krishnarajapuram, which will also host Purple Line and ORR Line from Silk Board, traversing beside the ORR through Jn. of Nagawara, Hebbal, Jakkur before reaching Airport. The line will measure at 39.8 km, 8 km longer than the previous finalised alternative. The budget stood at ₹ 10,584 crores, almost double the first plans.

So, if everything goes fine, we can expect entire Phase 2, 2A and 2B to be opened for the public use by 2023-24. But, considering the promptness of BMRCL to keep promises and problems with the State Government and its negligence, anything can happen!

So, what're your thoughts about Phase 2? Let me know through comments!

Metro to Airport? An easy way?

So, I guess you people are basically bored that I only post about transport in Bangalore, which is definitely not improving, but, rather, going down the hill each and every single day. But, I think this is the best medium to reach you guys, meet with people who think similar to me. So, this time, I'm talking about Metro connectivity to Airport.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore, one of the busiest in India

Bangalore, a growing city of India, hosts one of the busiest International Airports in the country. Reaching other cities of the world from Kempegowda International Airport of Bangalore is way too easier than reaching the Airport itself from the city, thanks to huge traffic without a proper solution. So, what can solve the crisis? A Suburban Railway? Maybe, yes, because, there's already a railway line between the city and Devanahalli, where the Airport is situated. But, talking of the practicalities, it's not going to be an easy way. Definitely, it'll be way too cheap and people might use it, but, practically, it's less feasible. If a suburban route is introduced between the city and the Airport, with a station very close to Airport, that has to ply very regularly to cater people and this might affect the Indian Railways timetable as the section falls under very busy Bangalore-Hyderabad line. Also, suburban railway might have to face a lot of problems due to many things known best to Indian Railways. So, this will make people not rely on this system much. So, roads? Elevated Corridor or Steel Bridge? That's a big no. Because, a recent research conducted has proven that the Steel Bridge which was planned by GoK can only reduce the travel time by ten minutes! Are we mad to spend thousands of crores to save just ten minutes? No. We're wise enough! So, road isn't going to help us. So, what else could help? Let's look at the needs:

1. The system has to reliable
2. There should be regular catering service, with less headway
3. Punctuality
4. Connectivity with the city
5. Public transport
6. Cheap
7. Time-saving

So, as of now, there's only one solution which can cover all the needs. Metro. In Bangalore, Namma Metro has shown a lot of potential in past few years and it has been a very promising player in the field on transport. Lakhs of people depend on those magical two lines to travel everyday and with the construction of Phase 2, Namma Metro is ready to spread it's wings wider than ever before. Phase 3 has also got the green signal. So, can Metro solve the Airport-reaching crisis? I say yes!

The Metro connection to Airport was proposed long back. There was a proposal to build Bangalore High-Speed Rail Link, with a separate governing body, from Mahatma Gandhi Road to Airport with a budget of ₹ 5767 crores. This high-speed line was planned to be similar to the one in New Delhi, between New Delhi Railway Station to Dwarka Sector 21. But, later, the plan was dropped and it was decided to plan a regular Metro governed by BMRCL itself. 

In September 2016, Rail India Technical and Economic Services(RITES) suggested nine different routes to Airport of which, five were the extensions of Phase 2 Nagawara-Gottigere line with different alignments. One option was Metro from Yeshwanthpur, while the other was to connect Mekhri Circle with Airport via Metro. A line from Krishnarajapuram was also suggested. This underwent public consultations, but, it was later decided to be decided by BMRCL itself, since the public are unaware of the hurdles of constructing an infrastructure like Metro, like land acquisition etc. Also, it was thought that the response from public will be influenced by their reachability and proximity to and of the Metro stations. There was also opposition against Metro route from Mekhri Circle which is not at all connected to Namma Metro by any means. There seems to be no plan whatsoever of connecting this part with Namma Metro as it involves lots of hurdles. 

A 25.9 km extension of Gottigere-Nagawara line of Phase 2 emerged as the most popular choice. The Centre requested BMRC to start working on this extension before Phase 3, which then, was still on drawing boards. But, Bangalore International Airport Ltd.(BIAL), forbade BMRC from tunnelling from the southern side due to security reasons. This restriction eliminated three of the nine proposed routes. Gottigere-Nagawara line extension was also finalised in May 2017. 

But, things turned in January 2019, when the GoK revamped the whole route, connecting Airport from Krishnarajapuram. The new, finalised route is a part of Phase 2B and is expected to be opened to public by 2023. The new line will start from Krishnarajapuram, which will also host Purple Line and ORR Line from Silk Board, traversing beside the ORR through Jn. of Nagawara, Hebbal, Jakkur before reaching Airport. The line will measure at 39.8 km, 8 km longer than the previous finalised alternative. The budget stood at ₹ 10584 crores, almost double the first plans. 

So, how does the new line make sense? Let's see:

1. It'll be cheap
2. It'll also connect a segment of ORR, which experiences heavy traffic jams
3. Connecting Airport with ORR is a very feasible solution since many people would have access to ORR Metro by 2024
4. Direct connection to Airport from commercial hubs like Krishnarajapuram, which also hosts one of the busiest Indian Railways stations in Bangalore
5. Connection with IT hubs like Whitefield
6. Since Krishnarajapuram Station connects with Silk Board via elevated line under Phase 2A, this will make it a better alternative
7. People starting their journey from almost all the stations may need to change line utmost thrice, which is very less compared to old alternatives
8. Land acquisition shouldn't be a big problem
9. Connection with major Indian Railways Stations of the city with Airport will cater more people
10. Eco-friendly
11. Mass rapid transport and has no problems of traffic
12. On completion, Metro will probably the cheapest, yet, the best way to reach KIA from any part of the city, considering the plan of Phase 3 being approved
13. No high pressure gas lines passing under the Metro line(In the previously approved line, Metro was supposed to pass over high pressure gas lines near Ramakrishna Hegde Nagar of Gas India Authority Ltd.(GAIL))

Now, the bad news; Due to technical issues like tunnelling, Gottigere-Nagawara line will be delayed and will be completed by 2024, the best case. 

So, Metro to Airport is finally approved and according to top management of BMRCL, it should be completed within four years from now, i. e., by 2023! Let's see what happens, but, I myself have no trust on the deadlines these people give. Just think how many deadlines did BMRCL miss to complete Phase 1? Nine deadlines were missed! But, let's hope that this will not happen with the Airport line, because, we badly need it!

Do use Comments section to share your valuable views. 

When Bangalore gained it's first victory against the Elevated Corridor...

Bangalore, the city of gardens, hasn't been so in a while as of now and that has a lots of reasons backing up. It maybe due to ever increasing population, ever raising number of vehicles and so on. Once called the Pensioners' Paradise, the city has now became the Garbage City and will soon become very unsustainable. This is something that fears us a lot, because, Bangalore is always the city we love the most!

Recently, adding to all the problems of the city has regarding sustainability, the Government of Karnataka had planned to add one more; The Elevated Corridor. This is a project which was once opposed by now CM of Karnataka, got approved within a matter of a few hours and went to an extent of calling tenders! Whereas, it took 5 long years for Namma Metro Phase 3 to be approved! EC is a project which could end up deserting the city, cutting down almost 3000 trees! This project was pushed by the GoK under the name NavaBengalooru. But, the civilians of the city woke up at the right moment to save the city from becoming a concrete jungle. EC was also about to consume a major portion of Cubbon Park, the lung of the city, was opposed like anything by the environmentalists.

On 16th March 2019, many civilian organisations of Bangalore came up with a protest against this unsustainable 'development'. Around 3000 people were assembled near Gandhi Statue near Maurya Junction of Central Bangalore. The protest came after Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. floated a tender on March 4 for the Phase 1 of N-S corridor from Baptist Hospital, Hebbal to Silk Board without public consultation. The major demand of the people assembled was to replace Metro with EC along the proposed route and cancel the tender of EC.  The Tweetathon that happened a couple of days prior to the protest, led by the citizen group, Citizens for Bangalore(CfB), came up a lot of creative statements in favour of sustainable city. There are a lot of questions regarding the carrying capacity of the ECs, which may end up 'inefficient' by the time it is opened to public use. The public also demanded for Metro first, then EC.

After all the hatred, on 19th March, many organisations met the CM, who claimed that his first preference was to make the city liveable and his first preference is for public transport. Terming CM's response as 'swift and spontaneous,' a statement from the citizens' group said, "At the end of the dialogue, he agreed to hold wide ranging and open public consultations on the issues of mobility itself in future." There were also some independent research reports which claimed that the Metro will be the best and sustainable option possible. Days after embracing the heat, the meet between the civilian groups and the CM of Karnataka ended up fruitful for the civilian groups. The CM has also agreed to personally review the alternative proposals given by the IISc Professor, Ashish Verma.

So, finally, the Government has listened to the voice of the people of the city and this can be marked as the first victory of the people of the city and yet another step towards a sustainable Bangalore.

Please do feel free to use Comments section to share your valuable thoughts. Also, try to guess what might be the fate of Bangalore with and without EC!

Namma Metro Phase 3: What do the Civilians have?

Namma Metro entering a station in Green Line

Namma Metro has been a promising travel partner of the city since its inception. Back in 2011, when Namma Metro was opened for the public usage, there was a very positive response from the people using it. Bangalore has widened it's width and a growing city needs a sustainable mass transport system, and, when we say mass rapid transport, Namma Metro comes in front of every Bangalorian.

Namma Metro, which has become the circulatory system of the city in a very short period, has shown a lot of potential in order to make the city traffic-free. As of now, Namma Metro has 41 stations along a stretch of 42.3 kilometres. Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station, Majestic offers the interchange between the 2 existing corridors, N-S Corridor(Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli) and E-W Corridor(Baiyappanahalli-Mysuru Road). Namma Metro experiences footfall of 4,00,000 everyday. As of now, Namma Metro has traversed through the CBD of the city and has connected a few residential and commercial areas and Bangalore is that city which needs a lot more than just a couple of lines and 40 odd stations. By 2023, Namma Metro is expected to complete it's Phase 2 network and provide connectivity to some more prominent areas of the city like the tech-hubs of Electronic City and Whitefield.

Namma Metro Phase 2

So, this article is mainly focused on the Phase 3 network of Namma Metro which is on the drawing board. RITES had begun the feasibility study for the Phase 3 back in 2014. The DPR was launched for the 105.55 Kilometres' stretch, which would increase the network length to 266 kilometre, once Phase 3 is finished. But, after the Budget, it was revealed that the 21-kilometre Hosakerehalli-Marathalli stretch, passing through Old Airport Road was dropped, which let down many people. But, the dropping of this line meant saving a lot of trees of the city.

So, by the end of Phase 3, Namma Metro will have 266-kilometre long network to operate. So, let's see which are those new lines on the drawing board and in DPR.

The first line under Phase 3 will be the ORR Line extension, which will cover 33-kilometre distance between Silk Board and Hebbal. There's also a proposal of Circular Metro alongside the ORR of the Bangalore, just like in Delhi, which experiences huge traffic jams despite the flyovers. Before, it was planned that KIA will be covered from Gottigere-Nagawara line of Phase 2, but, later, the DPR proposed the connection of KIA from Krishnarajapuram and Hebbal. Under Phase 2, Namma Metro will have 6 interchange stations: Majestic(Green and Purple; Open to public), Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road(Green and Yellow), Jayadeva Jn.(Red and Yellow), Central Silk Board(ORR Line and Yellow), Krishnarajapuram(ORR Line and Purple), Mahatma Gandhi Road(Purple and Red).

Even while our city struggles without a proper, reliable and efficient public transport system, the construction of Namma Metro Phase 2 lags behind extended deadlines. The report also mentions that the company is confident of completing Phase 2 by 2020. This will only be true for two of the six proposed stretches(Mysuru Road-Kengeri and Nagasandra-BIEC). With Phase 1 missing several deadlines, it's no surprise that Phase 2 is headed in the same direction.

Till date, the worst part about Namma Metro is that, it has not been able to adhere to the original deadlines set in the tender documents and work orders. Namma Metro recently released it's online report with the mention about the new stretches of Namma Metro. The annual report explains that the Phase 3 of Namma Metro would be a circular network connecting important areas like Ring Road, South-East areas of Bangalore, Old Madras Road and Sarjapur Road. A radial corridors along Old Madras Road and Magadi Road have also been envisaged for which the consultants have submitted the feasibility reports.

According to the reports, the new lines will be:

1. Nagawara-Aerospace Park(Interchanges at Nagawara with Phase 3 Airport line)(Extension of Gottigere-Nagawara line of Phase 2)
2. Kogilu Cross-Rajanakunte(Interchanges at Kogilu Cross with Phase 3 Airport Line)
3. Magadi Road Toll Gate-Kadabagere(Interchanges at Sumanahalli Bridge with Hebbal-JP Nagar line)
4. Hebbal-JP Nagar(Interchanges at Goraguntepalya and JP Nagar with existing Green Line, Myruru Road/Nayandahalli with existing Purple Line and at Sumanahalli Bridge with Magadi Road Toll Gate-Kadabagere)
5. Gottigere-Basavapura(Extension of Gottigere-Nagawara line of Phase 2)
6. Bommasandra-Attibele(Extensions of RV Road-Bommasandra line of Phase 2)
7. Iblur-Carmelaram(Sarjapura)(Interchanges at Iblur with Silk Board-Krishnarajapuram Line)

Namma Metro Phase 3

Though Namma Metro Phase 3 looks pretty promising in reducing the traffic of the city at major junctions, by the time it'll be finished, people will be fed up of the traffic of this ever-growing city. And, Namma Metro has all the potential to effectively and efficiently manage the moving people of this city. Let's hope we will get Namma Metro Phase 3 as soon as possible!

Please put down your valuable comments so that I can improve in my next articles. Also let me know which new corridor you're expecting in future and why.