BMRCL justifies not constructing metro station near Cantonment railway station, face public ire

The move to change the alignment of the Cantonment Railway Station on the Nagavara-Gottigere Line by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited has been met with public ire. Activists and residents staged protests that feared that the proposed metro station would be far away from the railway station.

However, the BMRCL on Thursday, September 21, explained the reasons for changing the location of the Cantonment Metro station, claiming that the new alignment will save time and cost and will be safer than the original design.

During a presentation on Thursday, Pradeep Singh Kharola, BMRCL managing director, said numerous technical, operational, financial and safety considerations had seen BMRCL choose to place the Cantonment metro station at Bamboo Bazaar instead of right at the railway station parking lot, as was originally seen in the detailed project report (DPR).

Although initial plans were to place the line through the Cantonment railway station and then towards Pottery Town, the current metro station is placed 300 m away.

“Building a Metro station opposite the Cantonment railway station will involve close to 90 degree curves which is not advisable for a line that will connect the airport. Instead, locating it at Bamboo Bazaar (Madina Ground) will also cut 800 metres length of the line and save close to Rs 1,000 crore in construction cost,” Kharola said.

In the case of the 2-km underground tunnel that needs to be constructed between Shivaji Nagar and Cantonment Railway station, there will no open space above. “We will have to demolish many buildings if we need to set right any problem with any tunnel boring machine. We will be forced to abandon the Line finally,” he said.

However, he also promised that the Metro station will not affect the Madina Ground as feared by residents around Bamboo Bazaar, who protested the proposed station.

Kharola showed the design of the new location of the metro station.

“The present entry at Cantonment railway station is at one end of the platform. The subway from Bamboo Bazaar will open at the other (east) end. The distance between the Metro and railway station would be 150 metres. Also, we will equip the subway with walkalators,” Deccan herald Quoted him saying.