After a long delay, the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) has finally given his nod to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to start commercial services between the 6.29 km Yelachenahalli–Anjanapura section. This section is an elevated extension of the existing Green Line of Namma Metro along the Kanakapura Road. The sanction is conditional and dictates that the BMRCL finishes the remaining electrical and civil works. The permission was granted after test runs were carried out between November 18 and November 19, where both the structural and passenger safety aspects were scrutinised.
At present, the metro has two lines —- the Green Line between Nagasandra and Yelachenahalli which spans 24.22 km, and the Purple Line between Baiyyappanahalli and Mysore Road which runs for 18.08 km.
This six-kilometre long extension to the existing line is part of the second phase of the Namma Metro project in Bengaluru which has been marred with delays, similar to the first phase. The initial deadline for this extension was 2018, and before the pandemic, the BMRCL had aimed to open the line for public use by August. The most recent deadline, November 1, Rajyotsava Day, was also missed.
BMRCL can start operations from mid-December after filing a compliance report with the CMRS. The route will have five stops: Anjanapura Road Cross, Krishnaleela Park (ISKCON), Vajarahalli, Talaghattapura and Anjanapura Township. Since August, the BMRCL had been carrying out trial runs in this section, leading to occasional partial suspension of services between RV Road and Yelachenahalli.
The next lines that are likely to be opened for the public are the Nagasandra-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre line and the Mysore Road-Kengeri extensions on the Green and Purple lines respectively. According to BMRCL, the lines are due to open for the public before the end of March 2021.