Of the 42-km line, this 5-km stretch is underground, since it runs through some of the more high-profile and recognisable parts of this city - including the Vidhana Soudha.
It's officially open - the link between the eastern and western stretch of the underground Bengaluru Metro is complete. No traffic jams, no bad roads. Smooth sailing beneath the surface of Bengaluru city for almost five kilometres.
Of the 42-km line, this 5-km stretch is underground, since it runs through some of the more high-profile and recognisable parts of this city - including the Vidhana Soudha. The Passengers on the first day were thrilled.
"We travel from Mysuru road to Vidhana Soudha. It took us only around 12 minutes in Metro whereas it used to take at least 1 hour when we travel from car or bus. It saves lot of time and it solves traffic problems as well."
Another commuter Malini was equally positive. "I travel daily from Vijayanagara to Vidhana Soudha. By road it would take 45 minutes but today I have reached in 12 minutes by Metro. Very nice experience," she said.
Vasanth Rao, General Manager, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation said it was a huge engineering challenge. "It was a huge feat... So final project cost is Rs 13 000 crore. The physical work is 90% complete and the whole Phase One should be functional by December."
The 18 km east to west stretch is covered in just half an hour, away from the crawling havoc of surface traffic in the city.
While initial numbers of passengers using the Metro has been disappointing so far, the completion of this east west line is expected to make a big difference.