After missing several deadlines, the foot-over bridge connecting the metro station with the bus terminus of BMTC and KSRTC at the Nadaprabhu Hiriya Kempegowda Metro Station in Bengaluru’s Majestic was finally inaugurated on Thursday (4 October), more than two years after the metro’s operation at Majestic began.
The ceremonial inauguration was attended by Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, as well as his deputy and Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara. Other political leaders present at the event include MLA and KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, Mayor Gangambika Mallikarjun and Deputy Mayor Ramila Umashankar, among others.
The long-overdue footbridge will improve the number of people using the metro and bus services while reducing the number of vehicles on the road according to urban mobility experts. The commuters were previously forced to use a garbage-filled subway or dodge busy traffic crossing the busy road. The bridge will shorten the distance by 250 meters.
Although the bridge was said to have been completed this past summer, the inauguration was delayed. A six coach metro train on the Purple Line was also flagged off by the dignitaries. The metro in Majestic has been operational since April 2016. It later became an integration point for the Purple and Green Line, but the construction of the foot overbridge connectors between the different modes of public transport began only in January 2018.
Sanjeev Dhyamanavar, an urban mobility expert at Prajaa, said, “It is good to see that finally, the Majestic FOB is ready. But the issue in Yeshwanthpur still needs to be looked into.” Urban matter experts have previously pointed out that footbridges like these should have been planned well in advance. They emphasised that it wasn’t just a matter of convenience, but safety as well, as reported by The News Minute.