Countdown begins !

                  Work on Namma Metro’s Reach One stations has been fast-tracked, as chief minister BS Yeddyurappa announced on Tuesday that the trial run of the Metro train is scheduled to begin on January 24.

Yeddyurappa will inspect progress of work soon, and will take a ride on the train even as it does the trial runs.

                 There are six stations on Reach One, between Byappanahalli and MG Road. All stations have been witnessing work at a brisk pace. With just a week to go before trial runs begin, Metro officials find their hands tied. There is much work still to be done on the stations before the trial runs.

Questioned about all the work that remains to be done and the fast-approaching deadline, BLY Chavan, spokesperson of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), said, “Work pressure has remained more or less the same. However, it is true that there is a lot of work still to be done before the trial runs begin.”

                 At the Byappanahalli Metro depot, where the station is at grade (meaning that it is at ground level), construction is ongoing on the foot over-bridge within the depot, connecting the station’s main entrance to the Old Madras Road.

                 Workers have been instructed that the ramp has to be ready for use by January 23. Ticketing counters at the Byappanahalli station will be made near the entrance gates at the Old Madras Road side of the depot. Structures for erecting the main frame of the foot over-bridge for the Swami Vivekananda (SV) Station on SV Road are being readied. Workers have been instructed that this work should be complete by Sunday.

              The station at Byappanahalli is getting whitewashed. The station on Chinmaya Mission Hospital (CMH) Road has already been whitewashed; it will soon get a coat of paint. The back wall of the Mahatma Gandhi (MG Road) Station has been painted yellow.

Many teams have been working simultaneously at different stations and junctions of Reach One. Security arrangements too are being made, ahead of trial runs.

              Escalators at all stations have been fitted. Half-walls are being erected, as boundaries to the stations. The third train, which was brought to the yard on Wednesday, was coupled only on Tuesday night. Electrical connections will be made into the coaches for static tests on the new train. Meanwhile, sources in the BMRC said that the committee for deciding the fares has already prepared a report. It is expected to meet next week; according to the BMRCL website, fares are expected to be one-and-a-half times the bus fares in the city.