First Phase of Namma Metro is expected to be completed before 2015 year end.
A test run was held on Sunday for the Bengaluru Metro in a newly completed five-kilometre-long tunnel. The test went off well - a good sign for the completion of the first phase of the delayed megaproject that will hopefully ease the city's commuting woes.
The delayed completion of this tunnel was one of the reasons why this mega infrastructure project was so much behind schedule. The Managing Director of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, Pradeep Singh Kharola, said it was due to the hardness of the rocks on which the city of Bengaluru rests.
"Underground has always been a great challenge especially in Bengaluru. Bengaluru has a difficult terrain, resting on the Deccan Plateau, the oldest igneous rocks in the country. The rocks are extremely hard and it was a challenge for our engineers to negotiate these rocks. The machines, the best in the world, had broken down. Boring of tunnels was a big challenge. Our engineers can say they have achieved a great feat. This is a very important milestone in the history of Namma Metro. It has entered the underground section for the first time," he said.
The tunnel is part of the East West line - and authorities have promised that the entire first phase will be completed and ready for use by the end of this year. Part of the eastern corridor, from Byapanahalli to Mahatma Gandhi Road is already in operation but the western corridor had been held up because of the incomplete tunnel. Test runs will begin soon to Magadi Road on the east west line.
"It will take about three months to complete the trials then it will be open to the public. The East West corridor is about 20 kilometres long including the tunnel - we are targeting full completion by November of this year," Mr Kharola said.
The entire network in the first phase of the Metro project will cover 42 kilometres of which nine kilometres will run underground. With commuting being one of the biggest challenges in Bengaluru city, the hope is the Metro will make a difference to the way people move around the city.