Red Line (Namma Metro)

The Red Line of the Namma Metro is a proposed 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 proposed Yellow Line.^[2]

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$80 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$700 million).^[22]

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 ₹3700 crore loan.^[23] The line will also be funded by the AIIB, and the Central and State Governments.^[24]

Stations

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

References