BENGALURU: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) paid ₹141 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for 1.05 lakh sq. m of land a few days ago and is ready to receive the land it needs along NH 44 (Ballari Road) so that the city can be linked to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) by Namma Metro.
Under Phase II-B, the BMRCL has decided to extend the metro line from the proposed K R Puram interchange station to the KIA via Nagawara and Hebbal. The metro to the airport will cover a distance of 55 km starting from Silk Board. The KIA premises will have two underground metro stations. Hoping to meet the 2023 deadline, the metro officials are in the process preparing a detailed project report.
A senior official said that the NHAI has asked the BMRCL to pay an interest of 13.8 per cent from the time the land was acquired. Once all the settlements are done, the BMRCL will take possession of the land.
“Initially, the land was acquired for a high-speed rail link corridor but later it was decided that a metro line would be built,” said a senior NHAI official.
The metro line connecting K R Puram to the KIA will connect with the proposed peripheral ring road (PRR) on Ballari Road. The BMRCL has planned to build a metro station after Kogilu Cross. Also, the BMRCL has identified 17 locations for proposed metro stations on the metro line connecting the KIA.
A senior official said that there will be fewer metro stations after Hebbal, only seven on the 28-odd-km stretch. This will enable metro trains to run at a higher speed after hitting Ballari Road.
The BMRCL has also come up with a proposal to build a road-cum-metro flyover after K R Puram station for a stretch of 3 km to decongest traffic, especially near Tin Factory. The BMRCL also plans to build bus bays near metro stations on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) line. Bus bays will be helpful for the BMTC to operate more number feeder services from metro stations that will result in smooth flow of traffic on the ORR.