Metro Line to Bangalore Airport Finalized via Jakkur & Yelahanka
Karnataka’s Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, KJ George, yesterday announced that the state’s Chief Minister has finalized the route for the city’s metro link to Kempegowda International Airport via Nagawara – RK Hegde Nagar – Jakkur – Yelahanka. This approximately 28 km line will run primarily on NH-44, and will be an extension of the Phase 2 project’s 21.25 km Gottigere – MG Road – Nagawara line which in March 2017 entered the tendering stage for its civil construction.
This finalized route doesn’t feature among the 2 routes suggested by RITES in October 2015 or the 9 routes the BMRCL sought public feedback on in September 2016 or even among the 4 routes finalized in late-April 2017. Its description was first mentioned on the sidelines of a Bangalore Development Authority meeting last week, but was not confirmed to have then been finalized by a Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson.
Confirming the Chief Minister’s decision, here’s what BMRCL’s MD had to say in an interview to the TOI:
It is a slightly modified route and it does not match any of the nine initially floated for public response. It is a mix of the sixth and ninth routes and was found to be the most cost-effective option. This will ensure both Yelahanka and Jakkur get Metro connectivity.
With that, here’s what the line’s alignment would most likely look like:
Map of Bangalore Metro’s link to Kempegowda International Airport
BMRCL will now work on preparing the line’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) which includes cost, length, stations, depot, signalling system, train operation plan, traffic forecast, alignment type (elevated/underground/at-grade) for different sections, land acquisition, funding scenarios and any possible future extensions. If the city’s 17 km Outer Ring Road (ORR) line’s DPRÂ is anything to go by, then it could be ready as soon as July but there haven’t been any indications that work to prepare it will begin anytime soon.
For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
So what happened to all the public suggestions, comments and votes? That was merely drama?
The reason behind the route is airport authority has strictly informed that metro should go from trumpet flyover bcz the other routes will go under the second runway. under the policy its not allowed.advantage under this route is. government is already acquired required land during high speed train project & its cost effective also.
why was not the Airport Authority consulted before announcing nine routes for public consultation ?
That is the mistake done by our government.
This cannot be a mistake.. its not feasible or appropriate for BMRCL to go and consult each and every department for route suggesteion, reason is every government organization will have their own constraint and they would reject it.. so it will never come to an amicable end. Hence, BMRCL takes decision and CM approves it and other organizaztions just obey it.. that is how it has to be done!!!
In this context, govt. has taken an excellent break-even decision. I strongly feel that public opinion was taken into consideration and govt. as a team has worked out the best possible and cost effective route. Moreover, imagine if govt. has decided to run the metro thru Hebbal, everyone commuting to Manyata would have had nightmare for half a decade because of road blockage. This includes every individual travelling to airport for these 5 years. In the current plan, most of the airport commuters will not have impact (in fact they will not even know) about metro construction progress till the line reaches Jakkur (which is close to 50% of construction complexity). Rest of the construction can happen un-interrupted towards side of current airport road.
BMRCL has to atleast consult Airport Authority/BIAL to which Airport line is being constructed . without consulting Airport Authority/BIAL it does not make sense to finalize the route
I suppose that, metro should cater to both general public as well as the aircraft passengers. Remember, that the Airport Metro in Delhi can also be used by daily commuters to Dhaula Kuan and Dwarka as well. Similarly, Airport Metro in Bengaluru should cater to general public of Yelahanka and Jakkur as well. It would be better if the connection is via Hebbal, since this is the more preferred route for most residents of Yelahanka, but if it is not possible, then feeder buses should be provided from Jakkur to Hebbal (and beyond like Mekhri Circle etc) for the benefit of general public of Yelahanka.
Also, since Airport route would have only limited stoppages, a parallel feeder bus service should also be provided along the metro route to cater to in-between areas (e.g. Sahakara Nagar, Venkatala etc etc).
This line would have to wait for the Nagawara-Gottigere underground line to be completed before operations can even begin. Would it not have been better if they had connected it to the green line? I don’t buy the Yelahanka-Jakkur excuse.
Since the cuommute to airport is very necessiary, BMRCL might endup taking parallel construction with Phase II for airport metro also.
The reason behind the route is airport authority has strictly informed that metro should go from trumpet flyover bcz the other routes will go under the second runway. under the policy its not allowed.advantage under this route is. government is already acquired required land during high speed train project & its cost effective also.
What policy? How are Mumbai & Delhi building underpasses for vehicles below runways? Likewise there can be underground metro tunnels below runway.
The route to airport via Nagawara-Kannur-Bagalur were shortest & best but costs may be higher because of elevated viaducts all through.
In comparison, portions of the selected route might go on surface & also has the benefit of connecting Jakkur, Yelahanka & other developing areas further along Bellary road. So, maybe they chose this route.
i dont think so underpasses are done in mumbai & delhi runways.one more reason behind this route is under phase 3 BMRCL as route connecting from sarjapur road to Yelahanka via koramngala, mekhri circle & hebbal. by this route airport can linked by two routes one by nagawara & hebbal as i mentioned.
Vehicle underpass is not being done in Mumbai & Delhi below runways? Please see news articles from links below:
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Mumbai-airport-gets-green-nod-for-Rs-3500cr-16052017001078
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Cost-of-runway-tunnel-road-to-T3-shoots-up-as-new-expenses-emerge/articleshow/6221169.cms
Tmrg, requesting you to please apprive my comment above & post as it appears people are not aware about this.
Do we have metro alignment or station plans available for the Sarjapur route?
Phase 3’s DPR hasn’t been prepared yet.
The new Route proposed by the Givernment would actually server better due to higher population density in the route than the bagalur route .
It would have been better if the route had gone through Hebbal. Any one know the reason why it didn’t go through Hebbal.
Yes taking it through hebbal would have helped, but I think there might be 2 reasons.
1. The silk board – k.r.puram once complete might be extended to hebbal. Thus commuters can take that and switch at nagwara.
2. Also I think most of the police traveling from airport to hebbal don’t have hebbal as their destination but need to go somewhere else, so as long as the airport line is connected to the rest of the metro network, I don’t think people would mind.( This keeping in mind the silk board- K.R.Puram line is extended to hebbal)
The main reason to avoid Hebbal was the new NGT guidelines which will make it impossible to get clearance
Have they even asked for approval? Why blame the NGT? It looks like avoiding Hebbal to take Hegde Nagar was an impulsive political decision. This will definitely impact the plans of for connectivity to Hebbal during phase 3.
Yes, it would have been better via Hebbal. The area between Hebbal and Jakkur is already a hot property, and top builders have already constructed flats, offices and MNCs here. Not going via Hebbal would devoid these places of metro connectivity, unless, of course, feeder buses are arranged from Hebbal to Jakkur Metro station at 5 minutes frequency.
Meanwhile today’s DH claims that the CMRS has been invited for PH1 inspection on May 24th.
Even George mentioned the same as per this link
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-govt-finalizes-metro-route-to-kia/articleshow/58726627.cms
Please upload images of kalkaji magenta line station.
Why is Karnataka again delaying Airport Line by coming up with new modified line . Was the 9 routes opened for public consultation all time pass . BMRCL did not consult Airport Authority before announcing these 9 routes hence this change . Also BMRCL did not keep in mind that land was acquired for metro next to National Highway .
Oh c’mon. You were cribbing that a route had not been finalized & now when they finalize a route, you come up again with weird imaginary issues to continue the cribbing!
As alteady mentioned, the route may have been chosen to cut construction costs by minimizing land acquisition costs (since land on Bellary rd is already notified /acquired), possibly going on surface, keeping options open for building addnl intermediate stations in future & also cover areas along Bellary road to make the route viable instead of running empty trains to airport.
Public inputs are necessary to gauge preferences & inputs proved that majority wanted the line via Nagawara & not from Yeshwanpur or KRPuram. And the 9 routes they had proposed had included alignments on Bellary road too – read up fully before crying. And stop making silly & bizarre allegations & claims such as “they did not keep mind”. They dont fool anyone but make you look silly & kiddish, nothing more.
If viable & cheaper, I’m sure they would have taken the route via Bagalur & direct airport authorities to make provision for tunnels below runway.
The information that its against policy is incorrect as there are tunnels being built below runway elsewhere (Mumbai & Delhi).
BIAL has ruled out allowing any underground construction below the second runway that runs perpendicular to the route. ABove details were given by BIAL is last month & BMRCL had proposed the 9 roures 6 months before.
I have no interest in debating with kids like you .
This message is for Sham
I have no interest either, but don’t like people who read being misinformed by posts that contain bizarre & bogus imaginary allegations every time, the way kids love to play. BTW I like kids!
Totally agree with you…
I mean I totally agree with sham!.. hebbal would have been a worst option.. airport commuters and manyata no employee’s​ would have had hard time for half decade
You are right. The NH would give them the land at just 250cr (already acquired by NHAI).That would not lead to any further commercial growth along that route. What this new route does is allows more non-NH length to be covered. This means more private land to be invested in by builders and friends of the politicians. The public consultation was just an eye wash.
So, the new line is technically Gottigere – Nagawara – Jakkur – BIAL … very lengthy line indeed ! Longer or like the purple line perhaps ?
Lengthy but its like celebration for airport commuters from Dairy circle and kormangala…
I hope they again don`t change this route, considering 2 airport runways(Jakkur and IAF, Yelahanka) which run perpendicular to the metro line.
I wish elections were held every 3 years in this state. The Metro would’ve been in ph-3 or beyond by now. 😀
As election year is nearing decisions are made at good speed. I was also thinking election should be conducted 4 years once:)
If the metro airport link has to be patronaged, then average speed should be 60+ kmph compared to around 35kmph being done by lines within the city (purple and green line).
The Gottigere-Nagwara line should be prioritised with funding and completion else it will meet same fate as the stretch between Sampige road and Yelchanahalli (green line) where overground is completed and underground is pending
Murli.. you are right.. government is already thinking of deploying double the tbm’s to speed up the process
Airport Line is at risk of Nagawara line completion which has 13 KM of UG . going by BMRCL track record looks like we have to wait atleast 8-10 years for Airport Line opening .
Also DPR for airport line it self will take some time . next it has to be approved by state and center and then bids invited and rest of the process .
Shashi… This is process for any selected route… You should feel happy that metro guys for the first time took a sensible and analyzed decision…
Process is correct no doubt about it. But why did BMRCL took so much time to finalize the airport route.
True… very delayed.. but better not the late!!!
When the airport line comes up in 10 years, it will be viable, not earlier as intermediate areas are not yet developed fully.
We do not want another fiasco like the Delhi airport line which was built at enormous cost + repairs due to shoddy construction by DMRC.
The arbitration panel has also awarded full costs of some 5000 crs to RInfra. So, it has resulted in heavy costs & loss of taxpayers’ money.
The devanhalli was the best and fastest possible route. This could have been ready in less than a year. But all are interested in making money. Logic and reasoning is the casualty.
Sriharsha… So you have/know a route that can be completed in less than 1 year is it? What is that route sir and what is the distance you are talking about? I am shocked ..can you please help me with details and logic of less than one year plan please?
Now that the Airport Route is finalized through Nagawara . what will happen to Yelahanka to Sarjapura line in Phase will it terminated in Hebbal or will it also go into Yelahanka and then into Yelahanka old town .
It would be better to have a Airport to Sarjapur route thru Yelahanka, Hebbal, Mekri Circle and so on . BMRCL can complete the Airport to Vidhana Souda as part of Airport Route in Phase 2 extension and can take up Vidhana Souda to Sarjapur in Phase 3 .
Airport to Vidhana Soudha can be taken up in parallel and completed much faster than wait for Nagawara UG section to complete .
This new route will change 3 routes on phase 3. Krishna is just appreciating speed of decision making and may not fully understand that not connecting Hebbal will be a huge mistake. It has schools, colleges, hospitals and tech parks that need the metro to decongestant the traffic.If the planning is done so that work should go on without disturbing traffic, it can’t serve anyone.
Hebbal is one big hurdle and if its disturbed then the whole lot of commuters to Manyata will get screwed. The hebbal bridge that has been constructed has left no place for any further construction. Next big challenge is mekri circle.. every place is so conjested that its next to impossible choose this route. Next final and big challenge is acquiring a property for Metro in Hebbal and mekri circle.. this is gone case.. the prices have spiked so badly that budget will be hell to think about.
I think it’s bad decision and should have actually started from Hebbal which everyone knows it’s a junction and if by rules need to pass it through trumpet that would have been better and later for everyone to commute the metro might not be visible .forget that you are destroying peace of Jakkur training atleast that was the land of silence and with this it would cause distraction in training when traicommutes and no doubt the paraglyder may land on train …pls check again if you need to do redo something in main road not to disturb current neighborhood people with metro
Hebbal may get metro passing through it in ph-3. Para-gliders may land on road traffic on Bellary road also, isn’t it? Or will they land selectively only on metro trains?
And yeah, everyone wants metro within easy reach but not in their neighborhood as they are “silence zones”! Sorry, but metro has to take some route & connect maximum possible catchment areas as best possible, not according to personal preferences of a few.
I doubt if Jakkur Route would be done easily.
BMRCL is doing shoddy job in deciding Airport Route. what was the point of 9 routes announced for public consultation and then BMRCL deciding a totally new route
Just because the chosen route is a combination of two of the nine routes given for public consultation, it becomes a shoddy job?
I would have preferred that they kept the route length shortest to airport from Nagawara (i.e. via Bagalur), but they also have to consider viability, construction cost, future new routes & extensions etc etc..
Else the airport route will not get taken up & may get delayed.
In dont think is a bad decision.. hebbal is congested.. and disturbing that place does not make sense. It already has a huge flyover and this will become additional congestion… People from hebbal just have to travel 3 to 4 KM signal free road to get metro reach. Which is still fine.
Dear all, pls let me know. When will tannery road metro work will start , should we have to wait for another 10yes. Pls advice
Land acquisition for stations is still not complete, also funding for UG section is not yet complete . so these 2 could take end of this year and then for tenders to be called and bidding and awarding and work to start. all this would take sufficient time and actual ground work may start by 2019/2020 going by BMRCL pace of work
Also pls let me know. Tannery road widening will be done before metro work starts. Or since it is underground metro project, no need for road widening. Tq
I understand that there is opposition from land owners to LA by KIADB for tannery rd widening, also land for UG stations. Hence, it may take long time.
Thanks for your updates.
Bangalore needs an airport connectivity urgently as travelling to airport is becoming a nightmare in rush hours. The best way to get this started asap was connect the yeswanthpur or any metro station on green line with jakkur and yelehanka and take the line to the airport.
Nagawara line will not be ready in next 5 years atleast going by the experience with phase !.
So, no airport metro for next 5 years atleast. for bangalore. May god save this city.
You are right, based on the city traffic and approach to airport the nagawara- airport should be given first preference. It should be termed as Phase 1.5 and should be scheduled between Phase 1 and 2 🙂 so that its available ASAP>
It’s always late decision coming to constructing new lines or under construction compare with other countries when technology available why these delay bmrc taken 10years to complete just 42km when neighbouring Delhi has completed 200kms current bmrc MD will take another 10years to complete airport line better give to special consult who are many experts who can deliver fast bmrc MD always gives excuses why can government vial till metro is commissioned go by local train connectivity by building halt stations and it will take less cost and time consuming will be less I hope government should go by these proposals
The route would have been more interesting connecting Nagawara to Hebbal and from Hebbal connecting to the Airport and as well connecting Nagawara to KR Puram and the other side Hebal connecting Yeshwanthpur. This would make the Ring road fully accessible on Metro network and would have made a life lot easier to reach to so many Far away places well connected.
The approved route via Hegde Nagar-Jakkur is the best for the present and future expanisons. The earlier 9 proposals have been widely discussed by all sorts of medias and rejected once for all. Every one knows that pillar construction is faster than ground level or under ground tunnel.
Hi All,
Anyone have any idea which side of the highway near Yelanka AF base the Metro line will be constructed ? And is there any station map released by BMRCL ?
Wait for the DPR to get ready for all that info. If that doesn’t have info on the alignment, then we’ll have to wait for the detailed design to be prepared.
baiyappanahal metro station to kempegowda international airport metro station
Airport connectivity would have been better via yestwantpur to mekri circle and then to airport road or yestwantpur to hebal via ring road to airport.
None
None. Thank you
The speed BMRCL is talking about is possible ONLY if the Trains are run WITHOUT any STOPS. But, what is the use of running Metro Trains to Airport without Stops ? Will it not add to congestion and pollution on the roads when Travellers (from near wherever the Metro Trains do not stop) will be forced to use cars, cabs, etc. ? Also, even if there is a non-stop metro train, let us not forget there are 62 CURVES from Nagavara to Gottigere, with a very steep curve between MG Rd and Shivajinagar. How will speeds of 100kmph be possible across all these curves ? And if these curves do not result in any such issue, why have the 2 curves between the approved location for CanttMetroStn (opp Main Entrance of CanttRlyStn) and Pottery Town, become an issue for speed ??
The approved metro route to KIA through Hegde Nagar- Jakkur looks very good and feasible without disturbing fly-over alignment at busy Hebbal junction. As pointed out by many feeder buses should be run for benefit of people living at Hebbal – Mekhri circle. Congrats to authorities.
This is a very good and bold step taken by the present CM and others. People should not comment this action as a election stunt. No one should expect the party or government should keep machinery idle for eight months, till elections after taking public money as salaries in thousands of crores. Now every one should ask for a fast start and beautiful finish.
Happy Journey and pleasant travel from Bangalore to Airport by METRO
Happy journey and pleasant ride from Bangalore to Airport by METRO