Bengaluru Metro Blue Line Opening Pushed to March 2028, Airport Link Faces Further Delay

BENGALURU (Metro Rail News): Bengaluru Metro’s 58.19-km Blue Line to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will take longer to complete. The full corridor now has a March 2028 target, while the elevated section of the Pink Line could open in September. Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced the revised timelines after inspecting the Pink Line with Minister and Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad and senior officials on Saturday.

Bengaluru Metro’s Pink Line targeted for march 2027

Bengaluru Metro’s Pink Line will open in stages. Its 7.5-km elevated section situated between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere on Bannerghatta Road is now expected to open in September. The section was earlier expected to open by August 15, but Gowda said construction should finish by the end of August. However, BMRCL still needs one railway approval for the rolling stock. The minister expects the approval within the next 10 days. The opening will depend on the final approval from the Centre.

The minister also stated that the 13.75 km underground section between Tavarekere and Nagawara will be opened in March 2027. The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has been requested to start the trial runs from Jayadeva Hospital to MG Road in September. According to a senior BMRCL official:

• The civil and track work on the underground section has now been finished.
• Work on the air-conditioning, ventilation and Environmental Control System is currently in progress.
• The electrical, mechanical and cabling work is currently progressing.
• The installation of the platform screen doors is currently taking place.
• Work on traction has been carried out as far as Shivajinagar.

The estimated cost of the Pink Line is about ₹12,000 crore, and the construction has suffered a number of delays caused by problems relating to the site and the method of execution.

Blue Line full opening moves to March 2028

Bengaluru Metro’s 58.19-km Blue Line will connect Silk Board Junction with KIA through KR Puram and Hebbal. BMRCL earlier expected the entire line to open by December 2027. The new target is March 2028. The minister also announced separate targets for different sections. Trial runs on the 19.75-km Silk Board-KR Puram section may start in October. Trials on the Iblur-Silk Board section may take longer, with services likely to begin in December or January. 

The work that is still pending at Marathahalli and the Silk Board has had an effect on the schedule. At the Silk Board the metro viaduct will be extended by about 413.8 metres above the present flyover so that the trains will be able to reverse. The section from KR Puram to Nagawara is expected to open by mid-2027. The part of the route from Nagawara to Hebbal airport is now scheduled for either September or October 2027, cancelling the previous deadline of June 2027 for the Hebbal airport section.

Hebbal emerges as a key bottleneck

The construction taking place in Hebbal is one of the main challenges impacting the Blue Line schedule. The station is to be an interchange point for the Blue and the proposed Orange lines and there are plans to have four elevated metro tracks at that location with two tracks for each corridor. Clearances are also needed along the Outer Ring Road in the Nagawara-Hebbal area and these limitations are likely to have an impact on the progress of the construction, especially between Kempapura and Hebbal. The section of the Yelahanka IAF-airport terminal has also experienced delays, the contractor asking for until March 2027 to finish the work.

Revised project timeline

Because of the new schedule, Bengaluru will have to wait longer for a direct metro link to Kempegowda International Airport. Some parts of the Blue Line may open in 2027, but the full 58.19-km corridor is now expected to open by March 2028.

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