The Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) will conduct the statutory inspection for the Reach 2 extension line between Mysuru Road-Kengeri section of Bengaluru’s Namma Metro on August 11 and 12. After missing several deadlines, this move is expected to set the stage for inauguration of the extended Purple line to open for commercial operations in the following weeks of August. The CMRS, who is also the Commissioner for Rail Safety (CRS), Southern Circle will thoroughly inspect the 7.5 km section of the metro corridor in the two days.
A detailed assessment of the infrastructure, including the civil, signalling and telecommunication among others will be part of the inspection. If all the systems, including train safety and passenger safety systems, are found to meet the safety standards, the CMRS is expected to approve the operation of trains for the public or commercial operations. “Once the clearance is given to the authorities, a date will be finalised to open the line. It all depends on the inspection,” Yashavanth Chavan, Public Relations Officer of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), told TNM.
After the completion of construction, trials runs were carried out by BMRCL in April 2021. Later in May, TNM reported on BMRCL's announcement of opening the line for public use by June. However, In December 2020, the corporation said in a statement that Kengeri residents may be able to ride on the metro as early as in 2021. The original deadline for the extension was September 2017.
The extension of the existing purple line will have six stations — Nayandahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Jnanabharathi, Pattanagere, Kengeri Bus Terminal and Kengeri. About 75,000 passengers are expected per day in this section alone. Additionally, the Mysuru Road to Kengeri extension will be the first section of BMRCL which will have an AFC (automatic fare collection) system compatible with NCMC (national common mobility card) and QR-enabled payment apps.