Metro Rail News Online

Bengaluru: Kochi got its first metro line today, while Bengaluru too added a line to the existing Namma Metro under Phase 1 of the mega project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched the Kochi Metro at 11 am today, while President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the new line of the Bengaluru Metro around 7:30 pm. PM Modi took a ride on the Kochi Metro. He was joined by other dignitaries including Kerala Governor P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu as well as E Sreedharan, popularly known as India"s "Metro Man". The underground section will connect Nagasandra in the northern part of the city with Yelachanahalli in the southern part, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said. The commercial operations will be thrown open from Sunday on Reach 4, 4A and the underground section of the 24.2 km Green Line. The section, marking a 12km-stretch, will not only bring sout...

Having taken over the stewardship of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited in August 2013 when just one Reach of Metro services had been commissioned between M G Road and Baiyappanahalli, Pradeep Singh Kharola is now on the verge of steering the complete 42.3 km Phase-I to fruition.His technical expertise and the ability to get things done are said to have played a crucial role in the completion of this complicated project. Promoted as Secretary to the Government of India in May, the State government had made a special request for his retention as the Managing Director of BMRCL up to December 2017 until Phase-I stabilises. With the inaugural day of the stretch slated for Saturday,  Express caught up with namma ‘Metro man’. Excerpts from the conversation: The first phase is finally going to be commissioned. Did you feel at any time that the project may not materialise? I always had the confidence that I will see through Phase-I. But yes, in mid 2014, when we faced...