A Look Back into the History of Bangalore Metro’s Magadi Road – Mysore Line
As posted a couple days ago, the 6.4 km Magadi Road – Mysore Road section of Bangalore Metro’s Purple line is all set to be inaugurated tomorrow (Monday) at 4 pm following which commercial operations begin! Here’s a quick post highlighting everything you need to know about this section.
Different sections of Bangalore Metro’s Phase 1 Project
After the 6.7 km Reach 1 from Baiyappanahalli Depot to MG Road and 12.4 km Reach 3, 3A & 3B from Nagasandra to Sampige Road, the 6.4 km Reach 2 will be the third reach or section to be opened. As you can see below, all 3 reaches will operate as stand-alone lines since the underground sections for both the Purple and Green line’s will take some more time to start.
Operational sections of Bangalore’s Metro once Reach 2 opens
Here’s a closer look at Reach 2’s alignment:
Alignment of Bangalore Metro’s Reach 2 from Mysore Road to Magadi Road
As you can see above, this section includes stations at Mysore Road, Deepanjali Nagar, Attiguppe, Vijayanagar, Hosahalli and Magadi Road. Since this section does not have a depot, the BMRCL had to rush to complete track-work on the underground section between Cubbon Park & Magadi Road on which proper trial runs have recently begun. Having said that, metro trains in the mornings will make their way to Magadi Road from the Baiyappanahalli Depot (in the eastern part of the city) and head back there for some rest & maintenance in the nights.
Here’s a look at this Reach’s history:
2009 – The line’s viaduct construction contract valued at Rs 195.70 crores was awarded to Simplex Infrastructure for the 5.9 km viaduct. Construction of the Attiguppe, Hosahalli and Vijayanagar stations was awarded to Ahluwalia Contracts while the construction of the Mysore Road, Deepanjalinagar and Magadi Road stations was awarded to Punj Lloyd-Sembawang.
2009 to 2015 – Construction took roughly 5.5 years to be completed on this section. Here’s a look at some of the stations nearing completion in August 2015:
- Mysore Road station
Mysore Road station – Copyright: Formost Construction
Mysore Road station – Copyright: Formost Construction
- Magadi Road station
Magadi Road station – Copyright: Formost Construction
Magadi Road station – Copyright: Formost Construction
More images of the stations getting cladded can be found here.
March 27 2015 – The BMRCL conducted the first trial run on this section
Photo Copyright: New India Express
A trial run in progress on this section – Photo Copyright: Economic Times
August 26 – The Commissioner for Metro Railway Safety began a week long inspection of the line.
September 29 – The CMRS gave its written approval to start operations on the line.
A train pulling into Reach 2’s Deepanjalinagar station in Oct 2015 – Photo Copyright: Narayanamurthy Aarya
November 11 – The BMRCL announced the inauguration will take place on November 16. Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu will flag off the train at 4pm from the Magadi Road Metro station.
November 15 – The stage is set for tomorrow’s inauguration!
Photo Copyright: Narayanamurthy Aarya
Photo Copyright: Narayanamurthy Aarya
Photo Copyright: Narayanamurthy Aarya
Initially, the metro ride from one end to the other will take 14 minutes with an average speed of ~30 kmph and a maximum speed of 60 kmph. After three months, the BMRCL will will increase the speed to a max of 80 kmph which’ll make the average speed 45 kmph and reduce the travel time to ~12 minutes.
Fare table on Reach 2 – Courtesy: BMRCL
Once this section opens up tomorrow, the Bangalore Metro’s network will expand from 19.1 km to 25.5 km! As a reminder, the entire system’s length in Phase 1 will be 42. 30 km long.
For more updates on the Bangalore metro, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
I’m first time seeing this website. So far i was relying on newspaper and other online sources to get the updates. As the spouse of a daily commuter from Bypanahappli to Vijayanagar, i used to anxiously see what is happening. Honestly, BMRCL is taking people for a ride by providing all the false details. I dont know how a public office headed by an IAS officer go so low on commitments. I’m not expecting any miracles but atleast the right status should be provided. The person gives promises after promises.
I was telling my wife that the metro will be ready in another 10days as per the news reports. On reading this, i got the idea that it would be rather surprising even if they could open it by Jan.
Many of the metros which started years later are in much better stages and i dont want to comment further since metrorailguy is the champion in that. I would encourage if you could provide a chart showing how the metro progresses in various cities (commitment Vs actuals).
Thanks again for providing the right perspective..
Hi Prasanth, glad you like the site! I agree – the BMRCL should provide the right status instead of lying through its teeth every now and then. Perhaps it would help if they have a press communications manager like the DMRC does. Static pages with info of individual metro systems is in the works and will go live soon!
Little bit of history i am aware of…
Actually #nammametro history is from year 1987-88 !!!!
when the first artist impression of the MG boulevard metro station appeared on Deccan herald front page.. I was in Grade 7 then!!! Now my daughter in Grade 7..
Thats roughly 30 years #bengalurumetro khayali pulav has been cooked before the current 40km of phase started running in 2017!!!
Unfortunately cant trace that artist impression anymore…..hopeful someone will have it in their archives…
GOK collected cess from 1996-2002 at the rate of 25 paise for every litre of petrol and 10paise for Diesel in the name of MetroDevelopment and had collected 450 crores via this route..