Chennai: South India's first interstate metro line, planned between Bengaluru's Bommasandra and Tamil Nadu's Hosur, will span 23 km and include 12 stations. The feasibility study for the ambitious project is in the "advanced stages of completion".
The metro line, initially planned to be 20.5 km long, will run for an additional 2.5 km in Tamil Nadu to accommodate the terminal station on Hosur's outskirts. Of the 23 km, 12 km will fall in Karnataka and 11 km in Tamil Nadu.
As part of the process to finalise the Detailed Feasibility Report, which is being prepared by Balaji Railroad System Ltd (BARSYL), a delegation of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) met Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials in Bengaluru on Tuesday for further consultations.
Following their meeting with BMRCL Managing Director M Maheshwar Rao, the CMRL team led by its chief M A Siddique travelled to Hosur and met officials from the Krishnagiri district administration to discuss the metro line's feasibility.
BARSYL began the feasibility study in December last year after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) gave Tamil Nadu the go-ahead following Karnataka’s concurrence.
"The proposed corridor will have 12 stations. We are also planning a metro train depot on the route," a senior official in the Tamil Nadu government told DH.
Some of the proposed stations are Hosur Bus Terminus, SIPCOT Industrial Park, Attibele, Attibele Industrial Area, Narayana Hospital and Bommasandra.
Although Tamil Nadu funded the feasibility study, the funding pattern for the metro line will likely be decided after the completion of the DFR.
Opinion is divided in Karnataka regarding the Hosur metro line. The BMRCL has initiated its own feasibility study for extending the Yellow Line from Bommasandra to Attibele, the last town before the Tamil Nadu border.
On July 7, the BMRCL selected Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers and Consultants Pvt Ltd to study the feasibility of four extensions, including the 11-km extension to Attibele. The study will take six months.
B L Yashavanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, confirmed the meeting with the CMRL delegation but noted that nothing had been finalised.
"The CMRL delegation visited us to discuss the Hosur metro line's feasibility study, which was sanctioned by the Union government," he said.
The study, much like the CMRL's exercise, will examine and recommend the metro line alignment, nature of the mass rapid transit system, ridership and construction costs.
Chavan did not comment on whether BMRCL would support the project to extend the metro to Hosur.
The developments regarding the Hosur metro line come just two months after Tamil Nadu announced plans to build an international airport in the industrial town to cater to the growing passenger and freight traffic.
(With inputs from the Bengaluru bureau)