On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open a 13.71-kilometer stretch of the Bengaluru Metro Phase II project in poll-bound Karnataka.
The Reach-1 extension project’s length from Whitefield (Kadugodi) Metro to Krishnarajapura (KR Puram) Metro Line will be inaugurated at Whitefield (Kadugodi) Metro Station around 1 p.m., and Modi will ride in the train as well.
Modi is expected to land in Bengaluru on Saturday morning and will head to Chikkaballapura for the 10.45 a.m. inauguration of the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research. (SMSIMSR). The SMSIMSR, which will commence operations this year, will offer free medical education as well as high-quality medical care.
The KR Puram-Whitefield line seeks to reduce travel time.
It reduces the travel time from over an hour by road to 24 minutes. The 12-station extension, which will serve 3 lakh commuters, will also include direct walkway access to the ITPL complex at Pattandur Agrahara Metro station.
It is part of the much-anticipated 15.81 km Purple Line section of the Bengaluru Metro from Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield. A 2.1-kilometer section of this line remains unfinished. The length is divided into two sections: R1A, which runs 8.67 kilometres from Baiyappanahalli to Seetharama Palya (on the K R Puram stretch), and R1B, which runs 7.14 kilometres from Seetharama Palya to Whitefield.
Benniganahalli, K R Puram, Mahadevapura, Garudacharpalya, Hoodi Junction, Seetharama Palya, Kundalahalli, Nallurhalli, Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Pattandur Agrahara (ITPL), Kadugodi, and Channasandra are the twelve stops on the stretch. While the KR Puram-Whitefield stretch is set to open this weekend, the Baiyappanahalli-KR Puram link is likely to open by June.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Congress has raised questions over the ruling BJP government’s move to get PM Modi to inaugurate the metro line despite unfinished work between Baiyapanahalli and K R Puram.