KA Govt Approves Preparation of DPR for Bangalore Metro’s Phase 3

While presenting Karnataka’s 2018-19 budget yesterday, the state’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah mentioned that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has been authorized to start preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the city’s Phase 3 metro project, which in its current state is being claimed to be 105.55 km long.

Back in 2016, the BMRCL had prepared the project’s pre-feasibility report and identified the following corridors coincidentally totaling 105 km –

1. Nagawara – Airport (23 km)
2. Carmelaram – Yelahanka (32 km)
3. Marathahalli – Hosakerehalli (21 km)
4. Silkboard – KR Puram – Hebbal (29 km)

From the above lines, #1 (Nagawara – Airport) and a section of #4 (Silkboard – KR Puram) were in 2017 fast-tracked and approved by the state cabinet for construction under Phase 2B and Phase 2A respectively.

After the CM’s announcement yesterday, the BMRCL’s new MD identified some of Phase 3’s potential routes to the TOI. None of the above mentioned lines, which pass through the city’s urban core, have made the list below. My notes are in parentheses.

1. JP Nagar to KR Puram via Hebbal (Line-5/ORR Line extension)
2. Magadi Road Toll Gate to Kadabagere (new line)
3. Gottigere to Basavapura (Line-4 extension)
4. R K Hegde Nagar to Aerospace Park (new line)
5. Kogilu Cross to Rajanukunte (new line)
6. Bommasandra to Attibele (Line-3 extension)
7. Iblur to Carmelaram (new line)

Here’s a map displaying the above routes in a very crude manner just to give you an idea of what’s on the table –

Key for map below: Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 2A | Phase 2B | Phase 3

Phase 3’s potential lines (in black) disclosed by BMRCL’s MD – view on Google Maps

The DPR will either be prepared by BMRCL’s in-house team (like recent DPRs for Phase 2A and Phase 2B) or will be contracted out to an engineering/consulting firm as done in the past for Phase 1 and Phase 2. The report is expected to take more than a year to get drafted, shared with other stakeholders, reworked and finalized before being presented to the state government for its cabinet’s approval – sometime in 2019 or 2020.

Until then, all of the above lines mentioned are contenders for inclusion and may be included either in the way described above or with changes depending on traffic studies, topographic studies and political pressure. The 105.55 km figure being thrown around will definitely go up or down. Hopefully some of the shorter potential new lines (#4, #5, #7) will be discarded and replaced by the older lines (identified in the pre-feasibility report) for connecting existing old neighborhoods to form a dense network of lines within the city.

For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

59 Responses to "KA Govt Approves Preparation of DPR for Bangalore Metro’s Phase 3"

  1. Aravind says:

    Hope govt official are reading the post

    Reply
  2. Vikas says:

    I don’t think the proposed lines in phas 3 total up to 105km. Also the earlier proposal of Carmelram to Yalahanka will still be achieved, but through a different alignment now (Carmelram to Iblur new line, Iblur to K R Puram phase 2A, K R Puram to Hebbal new line in phase 3, Hebbal to Yalahanka phase 2B. Also Marathahalli to Hoskerehalli is connected through outer ring road metro. There is also pod taxi planned on the Domlur-Marathahalli stretch, and so is elevated road which may have led to Hoskerehalli – Marathahalli line being dropped from proposal.

    Reply
    • Bharath says:

      Unfortunately, dropping the lines results in congesting the Red/Green/Purple lines severely. Even if you go to six coaches and 2 minute frequencies, it’ll be unable to take the load in 2035 or whenever this phase is completed.

      Any modern city’s metro network will show that most dense areas have access to a metro station within 1 km. Even after Phase 2, large swathes of Koramangala, RT Nagar, Chamrajpet etc. will remain disconnected from the system.

      The Metro must serve the objective of going through dense areas where it’s likely to benefit a large section of people. Going to new areas might help expand reach, but it only results in facilitating urban sprawl. For a city like Bangalore, this would mean moving people away from core areas towards the suburbs, for the sake of improved connectivity, but at the cost of all the facilities that are accessible within the city like schools/ hospitals etc, which takes a while to come up.

      I would like to see the expected number of commuters on a line connecting Basavapura- Gottigere, one going towards Rajanakunte or having a parallel line to the airport. My guess is that those lines will be deemed financially unviable.

      Money used in building those lines can be put together to further decongest core links in the centre of the city and have connectivity along places like the Inner ring road.

      In all the established metros, a cris-crossing dense network in the core of the city is more important to have before expanding the reach to the suburbs. If the core of the metro is strained, any capacity addition later on won’t help.

      Reply
      • Darryl says:

        Beautifully explained points Mr Bharath. Very scientific and practical. May our governing bodies too have similar sense than doing works irrationally and infact make it appear as though they do it for the heck of doing things….

        Reply
      • Manjunath Hegde says:

        Hi Bharat,
        Good point. However, the reason behind line 4(RK Hegde Nagar to aerospace park) may be different. They have huge industrial park setup near airport and it is developing steadily. I think by the time they omolete phase 3, a lot of businesses will move there. So in that way, I think that’s the right decision. It may not be viable commercially now.

        Reply
  3. Kaushik says:

    One can easily guess political pressure behind selecting these routes. None of them are helping decongest Bengaluru. None of the routes are even helping city main busy areas. May be politicians want to build more steel bridges, flyovers and underpasses.

    Reply
    • Prashanth says:

      They are planing for metro not a Toy train….. Y city is busy? because the roads are small and there are no parallel roads. Building metro rail lines in city is near to impossible. even if they come up with a plan…. then the same people cry our buildings has been acquired, demolished, 100 of trees has been cut and what not. Y Phase 1 got delayed because the lines were running with in the city and land acquisition was the biggest and delayed task….. I think what people want is a magician who can say abrakadabra giligili choom and every thing should be ready. but sad part is Karnataka CM is not.

      Reply
      • Kaushik says:

        Exactly, this is not a toy train. What s the point in spending crores of rupees and building metro lines out of the city. Even if it takes more time, they have to bite the bullet and get the task done.

        Whats the point if they get scared of land acquisition. Building metro lines in cities is near to impossible?? Its just that we arent open to suggestions, newer ideas and newer methods of construction. How are cities like Manila, Jakarta, even Mumbai for that matter are able to build metro lines right in the city center, being obviously more congested than Bengaluru?

        Reply
  4. Nithin BU says:

    Line #5 is an important line. Hope it finds its way into the final DRP because it is an upcoming neighborhood with lot of free land available.

    Reply
    • AKB says:

      Indeed. Right now, Yelahanka is currently the closest nearly fully developed township to the airport– and the connecting junction is already getting a bit crowded.

      After the second terminal of kial opens, the yelahanka-bellary road junction will be a silk board in the making.

      Reply
  5. Syed Khaja says:

    Hi,TMRG,Can these proposed lines be beneficial for bengalurians?

    Reply
  6. Hemanth says:

    Line #2 is an very useful line for commuters in Magadi road, i prefer it should be stretched up to Tavarekere, it will help both BDA layouts ( SMV & Kempegowda layouts). These are future emerging big residential layouts from BDA.
    I hope it will speed up the growth in Bangalore west.

    Reply
  7. Hemanth says:

    Line #2 is an very useful line for commuters in Magadi road, i prefer it should be stretched up to Tavarekere, it will help both BDA layouts ( SMV & Kempegowda layouts). These are future emerging big residential layouts from BDA.
    I hope it will speed up the growth in Bangalore west

    Reply
  8. Sid says:

    This is incredibly disappointing to hear. Lines 4, and 5 seem like a waste of time. What is the point in having 2 new lines that run in parallel to the airport. Line 7 perhaps makes sense in the context of the commuter rail project coming along. Line 1 seems to be the best investment among the lot proposed.

    High reas like Koramangla

    Reply
    • Prashanth says:

      I think the Airport line will have less no of stops so those other parallel lines which will connect other areas. as mentioned there will be inter connectivity between these lines in future to cover more areas. Now dont tell me that let the airport line have more stops, y govt is giving importance to people traveling to airport…. now the no of people traveling to airport may be less but in future lot people will be using domestic flights.

      Reply
      • Sid says:

        Connecting the city to the airport via metro is important, I agree with you. However, building 2 new lines running parallel to this airport line at this stage is not justified. Busy parts of the city like Koramangla should get covered first. Metro systems in the world start from the centre, build a dense network before expanding to the outskirts.

        Reply
  9. Swaroop B says:

    What sins have people of north west Bengaluru like Vidyaranyapura and Shakarnagar committed to deserve this 😐 ?

    Reply
    • anjan says:

      I think Vidyaranyapura, db-Sandra and Sahakarnagar and surrounding lines don’t require metro, mono-rail or BRTS is more suitable. Anyways most of the lines announced are use-less lines. Anyways DPR will shed more light.

      Reply
  10. Nagabhushan says:

    Hi All,

    Is their is any possibility to extend the metro from Anjanpura to further like till Ravishankar Guruji Asharama or till Harohalli?

    Reply
    • S MANIKANTAN says:

      I am more than eager to get this line. I wish it is announced in the next DPR?

      What is Ravi Shankar (the Guru that is) doing? Why is he not showing any interest?

      One request from him and it would have been done in phase 1 extension itself.

      Reply
      • SHAKUNTHALA says:

        people have lost faith in (swamy) GOD and now become mad and running after swamijis
        without knowing their background.
        WHO BETTER THAN PARENTS ARE NEARER
        TO GOD?
        THOSE WHO HAVE UNDERSTOOD THIS
        MESSAGE PLEASE SPREAD AROUND.

        Reply
  11. Naveen says:

    There should have been line via Visveswaraya station,Palace Guttahalli, Mekri Circle, Hebbal, Byatarayanapura, Yelahanka, Airport instead of making from Nagarawara, Yelahanka and Airport. I feel this is the best route to Airport.

    Reply
  12. VASUDHA says:

    Visualize the old man in swades, dying on the sheer cheer for bijili… Same thing goes for this Metro….

    Reply
  13. Muralidhar says:

    Phase 3 has no mention of Jigani. There is already an IT Park. The Government of the day has to think of extending the gotgire line to Jigani while connecting the airport

    Reply
  14. MUKESH PAREKH says:

    Well researched and articulate article. Hope those in authority read and adopt the suggestions offered.

    Reply
    • Nagabhushan says:

      Metro from Anjanpura needs to be extended till Harohalli,since there are many residents villa, apartment are there,so people traveling for the IT parks will be helpful.

      Reply
  15. Harsha says:

    Extension of gottigere line to Basapura is one of the most stupid ideas. I don’t know who is giving all such ideas. After BG nice the line takes nice road itself to hosur road covering a distance of about 10 km. Which commuters are they targeting? Instead gottigere line can be extended to Bannerghatta or jigani which will help lot of commuters travelling to industrial area in jigani and people visiting bannerghatta national park. Plz can somebody explain all such things to BMRCL before such decisions are taken and a huge public money involved.

    Reply
    • Harsha says:

      This was my wrong comment. I thought the extension is from gottigere to basapura on hosur road. That’s what even the map showed. The extension of gottigere line looks good although it could have been extended upto jigani.

      Reply
  16. bharath says:

    If we see Magadi Road Line.. Will it be the line taken from Majestic and extended towards magadi road track.. or will it have any interchange station where people need to get down and change station to travel on magadi road line?

    Reply
    • Jitesh says:

      It is mentioned that this line will start from Toll Gate. So, definitely not from Majestic. Either it would start from Magadi Road station or from Hosahalli station.

      Reply
      • Bharath says:

        Ya. If they need to draw from magadi road station, There is no enough space for another track. Also toll gate junction has underpass, so foundation for pillars is not possible. They might draw from hosahalli. station.

        Reply
  17. krishnan says:

    Dr E Sreedharan’s speech about Mumbai Metro 3 project
    ————————————————————————–
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFka5SLVl4g

    Reply
  18. KRISHNAN says:

    Update
    —-
    BMRCL had earlier proposed an underground section spanning 14km between Dairy Circle and Nagawara on the corridor. Sources said the length is likely to be reduced to less than 8km

    Source:
    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/bmrcl-may-tweak-packages-tunnel-length-on-dairy-circle-nagawara-route/articleshow/63020183.cms

    Reply
  19. Surya Prasad CA says:

    TMRG, you have shown the Gottigere-Basavapura(it is actually Basavanapura, even budget read it wrong) strech wrongly till Electronic City along NICE Road. It is just few kms away from Gottigere along BG road. I guess it is planned like other extensions in Phase 2 (Yalachenahalli-Anjanapura township and Bayyappanahalli-Whitefield), it would have been better if this is streched till Jigani along BG Road, via Bannerghatta.

    Reply
  20. Arjun says:

    Summary of all comments .Hope BMRCL will address it
    1.Metro from Anjanpura needs to be extended till Harohalli,since there are many residents villa,
    Engineering colleges apartment are there,so people traveling for the IT parks will be helpful.

    2.No need of line from Bommasandra to Attibele instead of that .They could have done extended from Kengri to bidadi Industrial Area. there are amusement park ,Engineering colleges,bidadi Industrial Area and it will help a lot of some peoples and also encouraging tourist attraction nearby places

    3.Need a plan for Koramangala, RT Nagar, Chamrajpet etc. which remain disconnected from the system.

    4.extending the gotgire line to Jigani

    5.There should have been one more line via Visveswaraya station,Palace Guttahalli, Mekri Circle, Hebbal

    Reply
    • Sham says:

      The flwg lines are required in ph-3, instead of those that BMRC has planned DPRs for:

      (1) Hosakerehalli – Chamarajpet – Corpn – Richmond rd – Domlur – Marathalli – Varthur;

      (2) Jakkur – Hebbal – Mekhri circle – Palace rd – Mysore bank – Corpn – Lalbagh rd – Shantinagar bus depot – Wilson garden – Koramangala – Carmelaram;

      (3) ORR line extension (KRPuram – Hebbal – Gorguntepalya – Magadi rd – Mysore rd – Banashankari – JPNagar – Madivala lake – Silkboard;

      (4) Magadi Road Toll Gate – Kadabagere.

      Reply
      • anjan rao says:

        Looks like line 3 Gorguntepalya – Magadi rd – Mysore rd and Line 4 are not useful. In line 3 in the above sections BRTS is more useful and cheaper.

        Reply
    • Arjun says:

      Do u have any masala in ur mind.everything no need for example bommasandra to attibele etc. Ediot do u know anything about transport .

      Reply
      • Arjun says:

        Hi Stupid , was above to say from bommasandra to attibele in phase 3 could have taken up in upcoming phases .since till bommasandra it already covering up by phase 2 .
        Instead of that mysore line could have been extended till bidadi since many projects and upcoming residence are coming up there and it will also help tourist people who will travel along the way . Sorry you have panipuri in you mind . I know lil knowledge about transport .I dont have urban minister skills like you and more over sharing opinions here Thanks.

        Reply
  21. Rajesh says:

    Hi
    Is there is any possibility of metro towards hoskote, which will dicongest the ITPL, white filed, marathahalli areas..
    Thank you..

    Reply
    • Sunil says:

      Any guess on this one? Seems logical to extend the purple line to Hoskote to decongest East. Somehow there is bias against East Bangalore and IT belt.

      Reply
  22. Suresh says:

    Is there any possibility of metro towards Attur Layout near to yelahanka new town?

    Reply
  23. Ritwik Malhotra says:

    Why is no line to Koramangala ? It is a very popular destination. I hope they include this before finalizing.

    Reply
  24. Dr. Vijaya Kumar S says:

    Metro rail up to Attibele is good for Bangalore Development as covering all industrial areas.. We look forward at soon..

    Reply
  25. Justin says:

    DPR for #NammaMetro Phase 3 will be launched soon, taking the total length to 266 kms. Upon completion, Namma Metro will become a ring rail network in the city. #NavaKarnatakaBudget2018 :

    1. JP Nagar to KR Puram via Hebbal (Line-5/ORR Line extension)
    :should have been 1st ,bangalore has grown because of ring road IT hub. around 5000 employees come on road every shift

    2. Magadi Road Toll Gate to Kadabagere (new line):all industrial connectivity

    3. Gottigere to Basavapura (Line-4 extension) industrial connectivity

    4. R K Hegde Nagar to Aerospace Park (new line)-ASSET for Bangalore.

    5. Kogilu Cross to Rajanukunte (new line)-Not required

    6. Bommasandra to Attibele (Line-3 extension) -:every day around 10000 people come to bangalore

    7. Iblur to Carmelaram (new line)–IT hub connectivity-RG Tech park -wipro headquarters ,Infosys reserved park junction for ITPL & Sarjapur road & electronic city.

    Reply
    • Muralidhar says:

      Hi,

      Why there is no extension from Nagawara to Jigini Indsustrial area. There are lot of commuters who daily travel to work

      Reply
  26. Satya says:

    Recently I visited beyond Hebbagodi , and I see the columns layed out till now , till Hebbagodi. The traffic slowness is there beyond the Electronic City as well ( thanks to the breaking of traffic rules,etc). Hence as previously approved and dropped , the Metro Line should exist till Attibele. If possible from Attibele to Sarjapur as well. So that area doesn’t look no longer deserted and people don’t face difficulty. WE have 5 Industrial Hubs i.e., Bommasandra and Jigni Industrial Hub , Attibele Industrial hub , Sarjapur Hub , Hosur hub nearby apart from EC hub. Hence Metro beyond Bommasandra becomes most important. The six laner is no londer fast because many many vehicles adding everyday. people from Tamil Nadu also take this highway to come into or pass Bangalore

    Regards,
    Satya

    Reply
  27. Prabhakara cr says:

    PL arrange metro line to nttf

    Reply
  28. Sudhan says:

    Hi,

    I heard news from a lot of builders on the Varthur Gunjur stretch that they sanction for extension from Marathahalli – Hosakerehalli line has been done till Varthur Kodi and Varthur Gunjur stretch, additional the work has not started as BMRCL is waiting for the Varhur – Gunjur stretch widen to the proposed 6 lane road. is this true as I dont find any update beyond Yahsomathi Hospital in Marathahalli side of the metro.

    Reply
  29. B V Sridhar says:

    When will metro new line work start from magadi rd, to kadabhagdere. ..? Can DPR be published, till now no sign of work start . Will it start or not…?

    Reply
  30. Jagannatha Kadam says:

    Yes, Need to plan immediately Magadi road Tollgate to Kadabagere as there are lot of industries in this stretch, schools /colleges and also connectivity to the Bangalores largest layout…Kempegowda layout and SMVV Layouts.

    Reply
    • Jagadeesh says:

      Very rightly highlighted for the urgent need of metro station at kadabagere. NICE road junction at magadi road, sunkadakatte, kamakshi palya are indeed messy traffic. Kadabagere station shall decongest city & lean the high traffic density on magadi road. This needs urgent priority.

      Reply
  31. Jyothi says:

    How about metro connectivity to Uttarahalli ??

    Reply
  32. Babjohn S says:

    If they connect from attibele to kadugodi…. It will be helpful for public…..

    Reply
  33. prashant says:

    metro neo or metro from Kangari to Magadi road via old orr this road is more traffic congested and need attention as because it connects major educational institutes in this road and helps lot or students to travel

    Reply

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