The long-awaited Rs 6,000 crore Bangalore's Metro Rail or ‘Namma Metro' will formally be inaugurated on October 20.
According to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL), the Union Minister for Urban Development, Mr Kamal Nath, is expected to inaugurate Metro Rail's Reach I which connects Baiyappanahalli to MG road.
The Metro Rail is expected to tackle congestion in the eastern parts of the city which is the gateway to the Information Technology (IT) hub, especially Old Madras Road, Whitefield and ITPB.
Reach I (Baiyappanahalli - MG Road) is a 9 kilometre stretch on which the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation plans to run three-car train. BMRCL is expecting at least 20,000 to 25,000 people to travel on the inaugural day.
Recently, the Chief Minister, Mr D. V. Sadananda Gowda, and Karnataka Urban Development Minister, Mr S. Suresh Kumar, met Mr Kamal Nath, and invited the Union Minister to inaugurate the project.
The inauguration was tentatively scheduled to be held around the Ganesha festival but was postponed due to the non availability of the Prime Minister and other Central Government Ministers. Metro Rail also got delayed for want of various Railway safety certifications. Now it is said that the speed of the metro rail has been curtailed to 68 km per hour from the originally granted 75 km per hour.
The Karnataka Government with the help of Central Government funding has been executing the project to ease traffic congestion in the city.