Bengaluru Metro: Track-Laying Work Is Expected To Complete By Second Half Of 2024

The longest underground section of the Bengaluru metro is now making steady progress after experiencing several stumbling blocks.

According to a Deccan Herald report, the officials recently visited three under-construction stations and a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to confirm the above statement. MG Road, Bengaluru’s most renowned thoroughfare, will get a new metro station that is more than 62 feet below ground, the report added. This station, part of the Pink Line, will connect to the current Purple Line, bringing the central business district (CBD) closer to the city’s southern and northeastern suburbs.

The 21.26-kilometer Pink Line connects Kalena Agrahara, Bannerghatta Road, and Nagavara through a 13.76-kilometer subterranean portion and a 7.5-kilometer elevated segment. It has 18 stations, 12 of which are underground.

The civil work at MG Road and Shivajinagar is about 90 per cent complete, as per Deccan Herald report. Other technical works are in progress. Meanwhile, civil construction has begun at Lakkasandra, Deccan Herald reported. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) expects to finish all construction and track-laying work on the Pink Line by the second half of 2024 and begin traction, signalling, and other technical work.

Subrahmanya Gudge, Chief Engineer (Underground Section (RT 01 & 02), BMRCL, stated that passengers on the Purple Line will be able to effortlessly commute to the Pink Line and vice versa.

At the concourse level, the MG Road underground station will have four entrances and Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates. Despite the fact that the subterranean station is around 100 metres away from the present elevated station, the BMRCL has devised a strategy to combine the two.

Further elaborating on work progress, tunneling is also nearing completion on other segments of the Pink Line. TBMs Tunga and Bhadra are now digging from Venkateshpura through KG Halli, with a breakthrough predicted early next year. The two machines must tunnel 2.79 km between Venkateshpura and Nagavara, reports state. According to authorities, the BMRCL has tunneled 17.93 km of the projected 20.991 km. For its second drive, TBM Tunga has completed 928 of the 1,184 metres between Venkateshpura and KG Halli as of September 24, 2023.