Nadaprabhu KempegowdaStn., Majestic is an important underground interchange metro station on the east–west corridor of the Purple Line and north–south corridor of Green Line of Namma Metro in Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, India.[2] It opened to the public on 30 April 2016 as part of Namma Metro's Phase-1. This important metro station serves as the interchange station allowing passengers to transfer between these lines for ease of travel.[3] The station is located within walking distance from BMTC & KSRTC's Kempegowda Bus Station, as also the City's Main Railway station.
History
Construction
The contract to construct Majestic station was awarded to Coastal-GYT Joint Venture at a cost of ₹272 crore (US$33 million). Construction began in January 2012 and was expected to be completed in 2014, but faced delays due to the hardness of the rock to be excavated, and missed several deadlines.[4][5] The delays escalated the cost to ₹500 crore (US$60 million). KSRTC, the state inter-city bus transport agency, provided BMRCL with 20 acres of land for construction of the station, slightly over half of which was returned to KSRTC after construction was completed. BMRCL paid KSRTC ₹4.6 crore (US$550,000) annually during the construction period as rent for the land. During the construction period, KSRTC incurred a loss of ₹100 crore (US$12 million) as they had to shut down bus services in the area.[6]
BMRCL employed 2,240 engineers, construction workers and others to build the station.[6] Majestic station (and all other underground stations of Namma Metro's Phase-1) was built using the cut-and-cover method. For Majestic station, the rocks were cut by blasting and 10,000 blasts had to be conducted during excavation.[7] BMRCL stated that it had used 300,000 cubic meters of sand (equal to the volume of six football fields) and 100,000 cubic meters of cement to build the station.[6] The underground section of the station includes a rake interchange to transfer trains between Purple and Green Line trains and vice versa.[8]
The station opened to the public on 30 April 2016. Green Line services commenced at the station (at one level below purple line) on 18 June 2017.
Structure
The station has four levels with a total floor surface area of 48,000 square meters (520,000 square feet) and is said to be the largest underground metro station in Asia.[9] The station area covers 7 acres.[6][9] Purple Line train platform is 365 metres long, Green Line train platform is 300 metres long. It has 12 staircases, 18 escape routes and 24 escalators.[10] The station's platforms are designed to handle 20,000 commuters at any given time.[6]
The surface level houses the entrances. There are four main entrances facing west, north-west, south and east.[11] Pedestrian subways and sky-walks connect the station to the adjacent railway station and the bus termini.
Ticket counters are located on a mezzanine floor. The first underground level has platforms for Purple Line trains and the second underground level has platforms for Green Line trains, perpendicular to those of the platforms for Purple Line trains.[9][12]