BENGALURU (Metro Rail News): Bengaluru’s Namma Metro is likely to receive central government approval soon. Karnataka CM D. K. Shivakumar requested Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar to approve the double-decker metro corridor proposal in the wake of rising traffic problems in the city.
The Central Government had previously granted approval for the Bengaluru Metro Phase III corridor in 2024, which excluded the double-decker viaduct. Later on the State Government decided to add the double-decker corridor at an extra cost of Rs 9,700 crore to accommodate the road flyover along with the metro rail. The central government raised concerns over the socio-economic feasibility of the project and concluded that integrating the flyover with the metro corridor would lead to less metro ridership and higher use of private vehicles.
RITES was contracted to conduct a detailed evaluation to assess the revised project. The RITES report revealed that the center’s concerns were solely based on technical aspects, and the double-decker corridor had only reduced the project’s EIRR to 15.9% from the originally estimated 17.04%, confirming that the EIRR is above the 14% percentage required for a mass rapid transit system. The DPR submitted for the Namma Metro Phase III had estimated EIRR at 16.5%.
Concerns were also raised for the height of an elevated alignment at junction 1, at Mysore Road where the new station will be constructed over the existing purple line station. The height of the station is expected to be 32 meters at the rail level. Sources claimed that if the height of Mysore Road Station is not increased, it might impact the existing railway line.The Mysuru Road station will be unusually tall due to the natural road gradient. The elevation of this station is expected to be challenging, but it is not impossible to construct.
Phase III of Bengaluru Metro will have 2 corridors; the first line spans around 32.15 km and consists of 22 stations from JP Nagar 4th Phase to Kempapura, and the second line is a 12.50 km long route consisting of 9 stations from Hosahalli to Kadabagere.
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