Surya participates in Metro’s trial run for Yellow Line, assures support with safety clearances

Bengaluru, March 8: Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya on Friday participated in the trial run of the Bengaluru Metro’s Yellow Line and assured metro officials to help with early clearances for the country’s first driverless metro network.

The trial runs on the 18.8 km Yellow Line, spanning from RV Road to Bommasandra, began this week. With the Metro authorities pushing deadlines on the operationalisation of the Yellow Line on multiple occasions, Surya has been keenly following up with the BMRCL to keep pace with the completion of the work. The participation in the trial run is yet another move to make the BMRCL accountable to the citizens of Bengaluru and get the line operational this year.

Posting about his visit on X (formerly Twitter), Surya said: “Took part in the trial run of Namma Metro’s Yellow Line from Bommasandra to Electronic City. This marks the start of an important phase in the Yellow Line Operationalisation journey.

“In parallel, we chalked out the certification and clearance roadmap involving RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation), CMRS (Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety), Railway Board and other Authorities. Over the next 4 months, I’ll be intervening to facilitate early inspections and subsequent clearances.

“Given this will be India’s first driverless metro route, several new procedures lying ahead and officials are committed towards early operations, while I am pushing to save weeks/months to open this line to Public use at the earliest possible date.”

The BMRCL then claimed that the line would be ready by February 2024. During an inspection of the Yellow Line in October 2023, the MP took stock of the lack of train rakes to commence the operations.

He also found that there was a serious impediment for starting services in early 2024 as the delivery of the Train Control Management System (TCMS) software, expected only by June 2024.

Through multiple stakeholder meetings and ministerial interventions, Surya enabled the early supply of car bodies for the metro train and also obtained the necessary visa clearances for the Chinese engineers working on the metro rakes.

Surya was also instrumental in bringing about changes in the BMRCL administration. His constant pressure on the State Government for the appointment of a full-time MD for BMRCL resulted in Maheshwar Rao being made the MD in January this year.

The Yellow Line spans 18.8 km from RV Road to Bommasandra with 16 stations. It connects the ITBT corridor, industrial corridor and residential areas. This metro expansion will alleviate congestion in Electronic City and Silk Board areas, very critical to commuters.

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