The trail run between Namma metro’s much-awaited Baiyappanahalli and K R Puram Metro stations began on Wednesday (July 26) evening. The first six-coach metro train travelled out of KR Puram station towards Baiyappanahalli amidst the monsoon showers at 6.04 pm yesterday at a slow pace and returned.

According to the revised deadline, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is hoping to start operations on this 2 km stretch missing link by the end of August. 

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This trial run conducted various tests on the route including the civil interface, track alignment, speed among other technicalities. The train reached a maximum speed of 15 km.

This stretch is a part of the purple line connecting Kengeri to Whitefield, and Jyotipuram is the only station between Baiyappanahalli and K R Puram.

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‘Trial run to continue for 10-15 days’

Additionally, the Managing Director of BMRCL, Anjum Parwez informed that the trial run will continue for 10-15 days.

“On Wednesday, the single train was operated on the stretch, and we did not face any problem. We have requested the commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) to inspect the line after August 20 and have started submitting the required documents. We hope to meet the deadline of August to open the line,” Parwez said in a conversation with The Times of India. 

According to BMRCL, after the completion of the entire Purple Line – from Challaghatta to Kadugodi (Whitefield) – the daily ridership of the agency will increase by 70,000. The agency has extended the Purple Line from Baiyappanahalli to Kadugodi (Whitefield) for 15.3km with 13 Metro stations under phase II of the Namma Metro project. 

Once the missing link is connected, the overall journey between Kengeri and Whitefield is expected to take around 60-70 minutes (which by road takes over one and a half hours). It may be noted that the Whitefield-K R Puram stretch is currently noting a daily ridership of 28,000 passengers on an average.

Moreover, another small stretch of the Purple Line of Bengaluru Metro on Mysuru Road between Kengeri and Challaghatta is scheduled to be opened by August. The trial run on this stretch is likely to start in three-four days.