Bengaluru: The state government has come up with the idea of a Monorail to provide a feeder service for the Metro Rail and is in talks with private companies from Malaysia, China and other countries to make this a reality.

Revealing this here on Friday, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George explained the government was hoping people would be able to get out of their house, walk to the closest Monorail stop and travel to the Metro. “We are considering a public- private partnership for the Monorail and talks are on with private companies from Malaysia, China and other countries,” he said, adding that the Transport Minister would look into improving the BMTC’s feeder services to provide the last mile connectivity with the Metro.

The minister was speaking to reporters on an inspection of the KR Market Metro station, where trial runs began on Thursday to Sampige Road on one side and Yelachenahalli on the other. BMRCL managing director, Pradeep Singh Kharola, who accompanied Mr George, assured that testing of all phase 1 pending work would be completed by April 15. “Once the Railway Commissioner of Safety gives his clearance it will be ready for public use," he promised, however, explaining that it was difficult to say how long the safety commissioner would take to give his clearance. “The Metro cannot compromise on the safety and security of passengers, however long it takes, “ he asserted.

While safety tests can go on for a month or two, Mr George insisted that Metro Phase 1 would be ready on time. " We have ordered six coaches from BEML, which will arrive in a year. One coach may be reserved for women," said a BMRCL officer.

With the completion of phase 1, the Metro ridership is expected to jump from two lakh to five lakh, but the BMRCL assures the current three -coach trains will be able to handle the increased load. Completion of this stretch will establish connectivity between the 24- km long North-South corridor and 18- km long East-West corridor of the Metro under Phase 1. "The KR Market station will take 15 days to complete, and the Chickpet station another 10 days," added a BMRCL officer.