B S Yeddyurappa promises Metro as Ugadi gift !

Bangaloreans can expect a Ugadi gift if Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s promise in New Delhi on Friday that the commercial operations of the Metro will commence on April 4 comes true.

         Yeddyurappa told reporters that he plans to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to flag off the Metro, “for which trial runs have already begun,” on Ugadi (April 4).

However, according to sources in Bangalore, the completion of the work is likely to miss that deadline, further pushing the commercial operations. Although several “static tests” are complete, trials on the main track, which began in the last week of January, have been hit by a small civil engineering snag, delaying the safety certification.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) spokesperson B L Y Chavan had earlier said the train will  have to go through tests on the main track for at least eight weeks before the commissioner of railway safety “can certify it as safe for commercial use.”
If the tests on the main run had continued without the glitch, then the train would have  completed the tests by March-end, making an April launch  possible.

But given that the BMRCL is already three weeks behind schedule, there is no way the train can be given the green signal for its commercial run before Ugadi, unless “a shortcut is found,” sources said in Bangalore.

Also, the political crisis in Karnataka has resulted in the postponement of the joint inspection, scheduled for January 24,  of the Metro run by Yeddyurappa and Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Yeddyurappa said Nath will  visit the City later this month. The chief minister denied any delay in the completion of the first phase from Byappanahalli to M G Road. He also ruled out changes in  the opening of  future lines and the next phase.

       Asked why Bangalore should have a high-speed train link to the airport when Delhi has only a Metro which will be connected to the airport shortly, the chief minister said no final decision has been taken in this regard. “Discussions are on. We are aware of the high cost of the proposed Bangalore’s high-speed City-airport train link. We will take a decision keeping the cost factor in view,” he added.