Bengaluru Namma Metro Update: The Pink Line of the Bengaluru Namma Metro is likely to open partially by early 2026 as BEML, a defence PSU, has promised to deliver 20 trainsets for the route by March next year, as per a report by Deccan Herald.

BEML chairman and managing director Shantanu Roy said that the trainset manufacturing for the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is in advanced stages. Nearly half of the work is completed on the first trainset.

Deccan Herald quoted him as saying, "We are making strong progress in the manufacturing of trainsets for BMRCL, and are on track to deliver 20 driverless trains in the current financial year."

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He said that with the commissioning of Metro's Line 3A, a significant increase in capacity was planned at the BEML plant in Bengaluru. The BEML is also in the process of establishing a new manufacturing facility in Bhopal, which will be entirely dedicated to rail and metro coach production. The Bhopal plant will double the manufacturing capacity of BEML.

BMRCL MD, M Maheshwar Rao welcomed BEML's announcement to provide 20 trainsets earlier than expected. "We expect the prototype train by September. The early delivery of trains will help us open the elevated section of the Pink Line by March,” he told Deccan Herald.

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As per the latest update, the civil work on Phase 1 of the Pink Line, stretching 7.5 km between Kalena Agrahara-Tavarekere, is 100 per cent completed. The trails on this stretch are currently underway. For the remaining 13.76 km underground stretch between Dairy Circle and Nagawara, the construction is underway.

The development is crucial as the Yellow Line hasn't opened due to a shortage of trains. Report suggests that in AUgust 2023, BEML won a contract to supply 318 coaches (53 trainsets) for Namma Metro, including 96 for the Pink Line and 222 for the Blue Line.