BMRCL to invite tender for Challaghatta Depot soon

Nischith N | NT

Bengaluru, Jan. 29 Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has finally invited tender for the construction of the Purple Line’s Challaghatta Depot and Workshop.

A senior BMRCL official claimed that the tender will be awarded in a few days and the work will commence soon. “The period of completion will be fixed. This depot will help us to increase the number of trains on the Purple Line. Challaghatta depot will play an important role in the running of operations on the Purple Line, along with the Kadugodi depot, when the existing Baiyappanahalli depot gets re-purposed to serve the 57 km Blue Line connecting Silk Board - KR Puram - Kempegowda International Airport. At Challaghatta we can park more than 30 trains,” the official added.

According to the reports, this depot will be built at ground level, on a portion of a 40-acre land parcel abutting Mysuru Road at the southern-end of Reach 2B with the cost of Rs 517.44 crore. The period of completion has reportedly been fixed for 24 months. This depot will be crucial for rakes running on the 73.92-km long Bangalore Metro Phase 2 project.

The earlier plan of building an Inter Modal Integration Hub (IMIH) at the cost of Rs 140 crore, and an elevated deck has now been dropped.

According to the sources, land acquisition of Rs 47 crore and compensation has been cleared. The plan was changed to save Rs 400 core.

It is expected that the final 1.314 km section of Reach 2B connecting Kengeri Station – Challaghatta Station will open up in 2023. BMRCL and their system contractors first priority is to commission Purple Line’s 15.257 km Reach 1A & 1B extension to Whitefield followed by Green Line’s 3.031 km Reach 3C to Madavar (formerly BIEC).

The initial plan was to have KSRTC and BMTC depots on the floor below the elevated depot, now it is ground level depot. BDA had planned to build the road from the layout to the upcoming Challaghatta station to ensure Metro connectivity for residents here.

This is expected to help BMRCL increase its daily ridership by around 15,500, especially from places such as Bidadi, Ramanagar, Mandya as commuters can park their vehicles at the depot and use the metro to enter the city.