President Pranab Mukherjee flagged off the Green Line of Namma Metro Phase I in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Governor Vajubhai Vala, a host of Union Ministers and State Ministers on Saturday. He said the country was lagging behind in the execution of urban infrastructure projects compared to Europe and the U.S.

Noting that Kolkata was the fist city to introduce metro rail in 1984, the President said more than a dozen cities would have metro trains in the next 10-15 years. The Delhi Metro was successfully implemented, he said, and appreciated the work of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited in the execution of Phase I project.

With the completion of the 11.3 km-line between Mantri Square and Yalachenahalli, a total of 42.3 km with 40 stations in two corridors — East-West and North-South Corridor for Phase I — has been completed at a cost of ₹13,845 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Urban Development Minister and Information Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu said the Centre would announce a new metro policy featuring innovative financing, and add a list of new cities to the Smart Cities Project on June 23.

With the opening of Saturday’s line, the total metro length operational in the country was 370 km (including 13.4 km inaugurated by Prime Minister at Kochi) in the cities of Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur and Mumbai.

Around 517 km was under construction in various cities, including Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Lucknow. Another 522 km was under consideration, Mr. Naidu said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Nagesh Prabhu / Bengaluru – June 17th, 2017