Pink Line (Namma Metro)

The Pink Line of the Namma Metro is an under construction line that forms part of the metro rail system for the city of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The 21.25 km line connects Gottigere with Nagawara. The Red Line is mostly underground (13.92 km), but also has a 6.98 km elevated and a 0.48 km at-grade section. There are 18 stations on the line, of which 12 are underground and 6 are elevated.[1] The M.G. Road station will serve as the interchange station with the Purple Line and the Jayadeva Hospital station will serve as the interchange station with the under construction Yellow Line.[2]

ಗುಲಾಬಿ ರೇಖೆ
PINK LINE
Overview
Other name(s)Namma Metro
Native nameNamma Metro
TypeMetro
SystemNamma Metro
LocaleBangalore, Karnataka, India
TerminiGottigere
Nagawara
Stations18
Websitebmrc.co.in
Operation
Planned openingMarch 2023 (2023-03)
OwnerBangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)
CharacterElevated, At Grade and Underground
Depot(s)Kothanur
Technical
Line length21.25 km (13.20 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification750 V DC third rail

Planning

The Red Line was included in Phase II of the Namma Metro project. Phase II also included another new line, the Yellow Line, as well as extensions of the Purple Line and Green Line.[1] Phase II spans a length of 72.095 km – 13.79 km underground, 0.48 km at grade and 57.825 km elevated, and adds 61 stations to the network, of which 12 are underground.[3] Unlike Phase I of the project, all stations in Phase II will have parking facilities.[4]

The State Government accorded approval vide Order No. UDD 127 BMR 2010 dated 4 January 2011 for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for Phase II by the DMRC.[1][5] The high power committee (HPC), in July 2011, gave in-principle clearance to proceed with Phase II.[6] The Karnataka government gave in-principle approval to Phase II of the Namma Metro project on 3 January 2012.[7][8] Phase II was cleared by the expenditure finance committee (EFC) in August 2013.[9] The Union Cabinet announced that it had approved plans for phase II on 30 January 2014.[10] The estimated total cost for Phase II is around ₹26,405 crore (US$3.7 billion).[11] The State Government will contribute ₹9,000 crore (US$1.3 billion).[12] The project cost of ₹26,405 is the 2011–12 price level, which it is set to escalate at 5 per cent every year with increasing cost of inputs. The Union government will share that part of cost escalation due to increase in central levies, while the Karnataka State and BMRCL have to bear any other escalation. According to the experts, the total project cost for Phase II is estimated to reach at least ₹30,000 crore (US$4.2 billion) at the start of construction itself.

Around 50 hectares of land is required for the construction of the Red Line. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board is tasked with acquiring the land on behalf of the BMRC. The KIADB expects to complete land acquisition by April 2018. A total of 690 trees will be cut to build the line - 438 trees for the elevated section and 252 trees for the underground stretch.[13]

On 14 July 2017, the BMRC publicly unveiled the alignment of the 13.92 km underground section of the line. The alignment included a modification from the original plan. The Cantonment metro station had been proposed to be constructed on Indian Railways land next to the Bangalore Cantonment railway station. Due to difficulty in acquiring the land and the cost of demolishing several properties in the area, the BMRC decided to shift the metro station about 250 metres away (This has been challenged as untrue. The real straight line distance from centre of the playground to the centre of the length of the Railway Platform is 800 metres) from the railway station. The Cantonment metro station will instead be built under a playground owned by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) near Bamboo Bazaar. The BMRC did not announce the alignment for the elevated section of the line.[2][14][15]

The M.G. Road station on the Red Line will be located under Kamaraj Road, and will serve as an interchange station with the Purple Line.[2]

Tendering

The BMRC floated the tenders for the construction of the Red Line in five packages. Tunneling and construction of the underground stations were taken up in four packages, while the elevated viaduct and stations made up the remaining package. The total cost of the line is estimated to be ₹11,014 crore (US$1.5 billion). The elevated section is estimated to cost ₹575.52 crore (US$81 million).[16][17] In March 2017, the BMRC floated tenders for the construction of the 7.5 km elevated section between Gottigere and Swagat Cross stations. The tender includes construction of the elevated viaduct, 5 stations and car depot on a 34-acre plot in Kothanur.[18][19] The agency floated tenders for the four underground packages in June 2017. ITD Cementation India, AFCONS Infrastructure and Turkey-based Gulermak submitted bids for all four underground packages, and L&T Constructions bid for two packages.[20] In February 2018 the tenders were cancelled due to high bids, and new tenders were expected to be floated again.[21] The lowest bid of ₹8,553 crore (US$1.2 billion) was much higher than the BMRCL's estimate of ₹5,047 crore (US$710 million).[22]

Package[13] Alignment Length Cost
Reach 6 - UG - P1 Dairy Circle - Langford Town 3.65 km Tender in progress
Reach 6 - UG - P2 Vellara Junction - Shivajinagar 2.76 km ₹1,329.14 crore (US$190 million)
Reach 6 - UG - P3 Shivajinagar - Tannery Road 2.884 km ₹1,299.23 crore (US$180 million)
Reach 6 - UG - P4 Tannery Road - Nagawara 4.59 km Tender in progress
Elevated section Gottigere - Swagath Road 7.5 km ₹576 crore (US$81 million)

The BMRCL subsequently re-organized the bid packages dividing the 13.87 km underground section of the line into two packages. Hoping to attract more bidders, the BMRCL permitted contractors that had previous experience building underground roads to participate, not just those with underground rail experience. The agency floated tenders for the 5.63-km stretch between Vellara Junction (Richmond Town) and Venkateshpura (Arabic College main road) in June 2018.[23] However, like the previous bid, the new tender also attracted just four bidders. Hindustan Construction Company was the only new firm to enter the bidding, while Italian-Thai Development (ITD)-Gulermak, Larsen & Toubro and Afcons Infrastructure also submitted bids.[24]

L&T emerged as the lowest bidder for the 2.76-km section between Vellara Junction and Shivajinagar (Package 2) and the 2.884-km stretch from Shivaji Nagar to Pottery Town (Package 3) quoting ₹1,329.14 crore (US$190 million) and ₹1,299.23 crore (US$180 million) for the packages respectively.[25] L&T announced on 6 March 2019 that it had been awarded the contracts to construct Package 2 and 3.[26][27] L&T began construction work on the project on 30 May 2019.[28]

The BMRCL floated tenders for the remaining sections of the underground stretch in two packages - Tannery Road to Nagavara (4.59 km) in the north and Dairy Circle to Langford Town (3.65 km) in the south - in January 2019. The work is estimated to cost ₹2,811.75 crore (US$390 million).[29][30]

Funding

In May 2017, BMRC received in-principle approval from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund construction of the Gottigere-Nagawara line through a ₹3,700 crore (US$520 million) loan.[31] The BMRC secured an agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on 4 June 2019 to receive a soft loan of ₹2,255.14 crore (US$320 million) to be repaid over a period of 25 years.[32] The line will also be funded by the Central and State Governments.[33]

Stations

The Red Line will have 18 stations, of which 12 are underground and 6 are elevated.

Pink Line
# Station Name Opening widt
1GottigereNoneElevated

References
  1. bmrc.co.in/pdf/phase2/phase2forweb.pdf
  2. "Know the location of new Red Line metro stations". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. "Metro gets poll push for Phase II". Deccan Chronicle. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  4. "Metro Phase II will be bigger, better, says BMRCL chief". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  5. "State Cabinet approves phase-II of metro". Business Standard. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  6. "Metro project: Cabinet approves two new lines for Phase 2". The Times of India. 4 January 2012.
  7. "Centre's nod for Phase-II of Metro may take 6 months". Deccan Herald. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  8. "Cabinet clears Namma Metro Phase 2 – Bangalore – DNA". Daily News and Analysis. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  9. Neha Sethi; Rahul Chandran (5 September 2013). "EFC clears `26,405 cr for Bangalore Metro phase II". Livemint. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  10. "Go-ahead for Bangalore metro phase 2". 30 January 2014.
  11. "Cities / Bangalore : Frame policy for differential fare pricing, BMRCL told". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  12. "Underground Bengaluru Metro Station service flagged off, Siddaramaiah seeks Centre's help for Namma Metro phase III | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  13. Menezes, Naveen (6 July 2017). "Civic work to start in a year: Metro Phase II boasts of most expensive underground line". The Economic Times. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  14. "Metro: New alignment for longest underground stretch". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  15. "Location of proposed Cantt Metro station moved by 300 metres". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  16. "Gottigere-Nagawara Metro line estimated to cost Rs 11,014 crore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  17. "BMRCL to construct a 11,014 Cr metro line in Bengaluru". Dalal Street Investment Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  18. "Tenders called for Metro phase 2 stations". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  19. "Dairy Circle to Nagawara metro link announced, but it won't be quick – Bangalore Mirror -". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  20. Menezes, Naveen (2 November 2017). "Only 4 companies apply for underground metro". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  21. "Retendering for Phase 2 underground section likely". Deccan Herald. 22 February 2018.
  22. Kidiyoor, Suchith (9 April 2018). "BBMP's poor record in TDR may hit new plan for metro line". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  23. Menezes, Naveen (12 June 2018). "Bangalore Metro Rail: 7-km stretch likely to be taken up first". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  24. Menezes, Naveen (30 October 2018). "Bangalore Metro bids disappoint as contractors go underground". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  25. "Underground section of phase II Namma metro moves ahead". The Economic Times. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  26. "L&T construction arm secures orders for Bangalore Metro Phase 2". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  27. Mumbai, Special Correspondent (6 March 2019). "L&T wins a large order for Bangalore Metro". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  28. "BMRCL begins underground work; CBD traffic likely to be hit". The Times of India. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  29. "Fresh bids for tunnel line of Namma Metro's Phase 2". Deccan Herald. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  30. Shah, Surya (22 January 2019). "Bangalore Metro issues two tenders for construction of tunnels and stations". Urban Transport News. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  31. "Rs 3,700-cr loan likely for Nagawara-Gottigere line". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  32. "Rs 2K cr boost for Phase-II BMRCL underground network". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  33. Briginshaw, David. "India seeks EIB loan for Bangalore metro Line 4". International Rail Journal. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
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