The Hindu : Front Page : Metro rail to be extended by 5.5 km

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 17, 2006
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Metro rail to be extended by 5.5 km

Staff Reporter

It will cover Jalahalli Circle and Hesaraghatta Road junction on Tumkur Road

BANGALORE: The proposed Bangalore Metro Rail will be extended by 5.5 km to cover Jalahalli Circle and Hesaraghatta Road junction on Tumkur Road.

V. Madhu, managing director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), announced this in an address at the National Institute Advanced Studies here on Saturday. Mr. Madhu said the North-South Metro corridor, as planned earlier from Yeshwanthpur to R.V. Road was 14.9 km. Now, it would be extended up to Hesaraghatta Road. The East-West corridor from Mysore Road (AMCO Batteries) to Byappanahalli would be 18.1 km long.

Common ticket

Mr. Madhu said BMRCL was in talks with BMTC and other agencies concerned to explore the possibility of offering a common ticket for use in buses, Metro, taxis and autorickshaws.

This was in vogue in some countries. The fare for the high-speed travel in air-conditioned coaches would be one and half times that of buses.

Projections suggested that the Metro would make profit by 2021. It would run under loss in the first six years. Fully operational by 2011, the metro rail would run at a frequency of four minutes. "The idea is to ensure that you will get a train to your destination as you walk into the station," Mr. Madhu said. The Metro would take a maximum of 32 minutes to reach the farthest station.

The work order for the seven km stretch of the East-West Corridor, to be ready by June 2009, would be given by January 20. The metro rail would provide safe and fast travel, reduce the use of fossil fuel, reduce the vehicular traffic on road by 50 per cent, reduce green house gases and cut down the road maintenance cost.

He promised that the Metro would be friendly to persons with disability. The best designs would be accommodated while planning the underground network to ensure early evacuation of people in case of emergency.

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