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But, I'd have expected 'core areas' like MG Road, Basavanagudi, CMH Road, etc. to be underground. The portion of the metro that is underground is very less. All countries have a part of the metro above ground, of course. But that is generally not in the 'CBD'. How many more PILs, court cases, litigation, etc. will we see if the metro is above ground in core areas of the city? Will that not stretch timelines and escalate costs?

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I was assuming that the metro would be underground. I was quite surprised when I found out a few months back, that only a very small portion will be underground. I feel that the MG road portion, as well as the portions cutting through core areas like Basavanagudi, CMH Road, etc. should have been underground.

Yes, it's more expensive and all that - but in the overall analysis it wouldn't be that much more expensive. Think of escalation and cost overruns due to countless litigation, PILs, protests and demonstrations. And what about the environment? Trees etc..

Having tracks underground, and most of the station underground, BMRCL should have been given control of the real estate at the stations. In German stations, we have supermarkets, stores, and in some cases even complete shopping malls inside underground stations!! I was visualizing something like that when I first heard of the metro. Fat chance..

Since we have gone ahead with this policy of having the trains on pillars, nothing can be done now about the beautiful structures and trees, sad as it sounds.

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They call it a metro (for lay people this equates with = underground = poshness), but only 5km of Pune metro is underground (the number of kilometers keep shrinking year after year once they realise the costs), everything else is elevated.

So the whole reason for considering a metro in crowded inner city (ie. lack of space) has left aside.

What all this will do to cityscape is a different matter. Never mind those unlucky souls living near these elevated tracks as they will have a eyesore and an earache to deal with (unless more ugly looking noise barriers are also added to the plan).

ASJ

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Even though I have not done a cost analysis, I have a feeling that it is viable to have retail space in underground stations and allow the metro developers to rent it out. I have seen the effectiveness in Europe. Even though it is not always right to implement ideas which work in the West, I feel it will solve multiple problems in this case.

Anyway, all this is hypothetical talk since the Metro construction is already well underway.

Maybe the very best thing that can happen is to get hold of a huge huge portion of barren un - cultivable land and create a huge planned city, putting into practice all the lessons we've learnt. I'm dreaming of course, but nothing wrong with dreaming, huh? :-)

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It is sad & tragic that the lady has to give up her dear house in VV Puram for the Metro project. There are many such examples - part of the Someshwar temple at Ulsoor comes to mind, as also thousands of beautiful, lush green trees that had sheltered pedestrians for decades. Bangalore's tree-lined avenues are slowly, but surely disappearing.

We have to accept change & it cannot be avoided. Some scarifices have to be made - the above are only a few examples. As rightly pointed out, changes can be managed to keep our roots intact. Take Salzburg - the small town by the bavarian alps on the German-Austrian border that still speaks of Mozart as if he were alive ! The streets still reminiscent of 19th century music & opera, or London where the beefeaters still parade outside Buckingham & the London taxi still operates as if it were still the beginning of the motor car era !

The Ph-1 routes of the Metro are aligned for best needs of the city, no doubt since it is aligned along the most dense coridors, but let's also think of something else - Costs.

There are many who say that Metro should have been 'buried' underground throughout. The new Metros in Asia (Singapore, KL, Bangkok, Chinese cities) also have large parts of the alignments running elevated, & only the least possible lengths below the ground. NewYork, Berlin Metros have large portions elevated. Even the London 'Underground' surfaces at some places. Underground sections are typically confined within only dense CBDs or where it is difficult to plan overhead, costs being very high for underground (both for construction & running as ventilation, lighting, etc are recurring expenses).

Bangalore Metro Phase-1, consisting of 33km (7km underground) was estimated at 6395 crs (2006, with some 6% cost escalation each year). Thus, at 2012, it would be 9071 crs appx'ly).

The N-S extension (8.7km, no underground) is estimated at 1594 crs (2008). Thus, at 2012, it would be 2012 crs.

So, total Ph-1 costs would appx'ly be 11,083 crs for 41.7km, out of which abt 7km is underground, resulting in an average of over 265 crs per km.

We do not know how much the underground section/s are estimated to cost, but it would be fair to assume that it would cost appx'ly twice the cost for elevated tracks.

Thus, the cost splits would work out to appx'ly 227.6 crs per km for elevated & twice this amount (ie. 455.2 crs per km) for Underground.

If the entire length were to be 'buried' underground, the costs would be 41.7 x 455.2 = 18,982 crs.

The difference in costs for the present plan & costs for 'burying' it would be 18,982 - 11,083 = 7,899 crs, a steep hike indeed, over 70%.

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