Work on Kempegowda Interchange station at Majestic to be completed in 10 days

In 10 days, work on the Kempegowda Interchange metro station at Majestic will finally be completed and the station will be ready for operations for the east–west corridor, which is expected to be thrown open to the public in the first half of April.

Officials of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) said that April 14 is most likely to be the launch date, but this will be subject to safety clearance being issued by the Commissioner for Railway Safety.

“We will be inviting the team for safety clearance from March 25. There are not many people using the metro for now, but this will increase in the coming months as more sections are opened,” said Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Tuesday during a visit to the underground stations on the east-west corridor, which will connect Byappanahalli to Mysuru Road.

Work on the other underground stations of this section — Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, Sir M. Visvesvaraya and City Railway Station — are almost complete.

Meanwhile, the north–south line link between Peenya and Kempegowda station is expected to be completed by June. Tunnelling between Chickpet and Kempegowda station, which has run into problems because of hard rock, will be completed only by July, the Minister said.

Commenting on the recent meeting with several CEOs of companies located on the Outer Ring Road, Mr. George said the government was in discussions with private players for linking Dairy Circle to K.R. Puram by metro through a public-private partnership model. “We are also discussing connectivity to the airport and will take a decision soon,” he said.

A detailed project report for the 82.7-km elevated road network plan, which is another public-private partnership project expected to cost Rs. 18,000 crore, is also under preparation, Mr. George said.