PM Modi inaugurates two stretches of Bangalore Metro

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Metro rail services from Baiyappanahalli to Krishnarajapura, and Kengeri to Challaghatta legs of Bangalore Metro Purple Line will improve connectivity and benefit lakhs of commuters.

He was speaking after virtually dedicating to the nation the two stretches of east-west corridor of Bangalore Metro, from Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh, where he addressed a rally after inaugurating the 17-km priority section of the country’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.

“The two lines of the Bengaluru Metro Rail will improve connectivity. It is expected that eight lakh people travel every day. I congratulate the people of Karnataka at the launch of the Metro rail line,” the prime minister said.

The Baiyappanahalli to Krishnarajapura, and Kengeri to Challaghatta legs of Bangalore Metro Purple Line were opened to the public from October 9 without waiting for a formal inauguration.

With this, the total operational length of ‘Namma Metro’ has increased to 74 km with 66 stations, and daily ridership to over 7.5 lakh.

Namma Metro, inaugurated 12 years ago, is the second largest Metro network in the country.

The east-west corridor — the Purple Line from Whitefield (Kadugodi) to Challaghatta — now spans a total length of 43.49 km comprising 37 stations.

Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the state government has given approval to the 317 km long Metro rail network by 2031 in its Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) of which the 217 km long route is in the operation, construction or planning stage.

Accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the chief minister said Bengaluru is a fast growing city and traffic is a big problem here.

In view of this, expansion of Metro rail services was very much needed, he added.