Bangalore Metro update: Tunnelling work begins between Cantonment and Shivajinagar Metro stations of Phase-2

The Underground section of the Phase-2 of the project consists of 13.9 kms Underground corridor from South ramp near Jayanagar Fire station to North Ramp near Nagawara underground station, consisting of 12 underground stations and 10.37 kms of Twin Tunnels. The construction of the entire underground work has been divided into four packages namely RT01, RT02, RTO3 and RT04. 

  • Under RT03 Package the work involves, tunneling from Cantonment station to Shivaji Nagar station and from Cantonment station upto launching / retrieval shaft at Shadhi Mahal near Tannery Road Underground station for a length of 2.88 kms with two Underground stations viz., Cantonment and Pottery Town. 
  • The contractor M/s Larsen and Toubro Ltd has procured two slurry based Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) to complete the above tunneling works. 
  • TBMs have been procured from M/s CRCHI and consignments reached Chennai port by sea route and were transported to Bangalore in the month of March 2020. 
  • The Names of the two TBMs are Urja and Vindhya. 
  • Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, has set in motion one tunnel boring machine (Urja) today i.e on 30/07/2020. 
  • The TBM named Urja will be tunneling (northbound tunnel) between Cantonment and Shivaji Nagar stations. 
  • The expected geology in this tunnel section is about 250m in Hard Rock, 350m in mixed ground conditions and about 255m in soil.
  • The second TBM (Vindhya) will be commissioned shortly after required advancement of the first TBM (Urja). 

Completion timeline of the Phase-2 extension lines:

  • R4 from Yelachenahalli to Anjanapura is likely to be commissioned in November 2020
  • Extension line R2 from Mysore Road to Kengeri in February 2021
  • Extension line R1 from Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield in June 2022 
  • Extension line R3 from Nagasandra to BIEC in January 2022
  • New line R5 from RV Road to Bommasandra in March 2022 
  • New line R6 from Kalena Agrahara to Nanawere in June 2024

Source: BMRCL-Press Release