Bengaluru Blue Line Metro: Silk Board–KR Puram–Airport Update

Bengaluru's most anticipated metro corridor, the Blue Line, is inching closer to reality, though the wait for a direct rail link to Kempegowda International Airport has grown a little longer. The line, being built under Namma Metro Phase 2A and 2B, will connect Silk Board Junction, KR Puram, Hebbal and the airport. The Blue Line, being developed under Namma Metro Phase IIA and IIB at an estimated cost of ₹14,788 crore, will connect Silk Board, KR Puram, Hebbal and KIA. Once complete, the corridor will run for 58.19 km with roughly 30 stations, making it one of the longest single lines on the Namma Metro network.

The biggest headline for homebuyers tracking this project is the revised completion timeline. The entire 58.19-km Blue Line, which will connect Silk Board Junction to Kempegowda International Airport via KR Puram and Hebbal, is now expected to be completed only by March 2028, compared to the previous deadline of December 2027. Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced this revision after inspecting the Pink Line's underground corridor, noting that the connecting KR Puram–Hebbal stretch via Nagawara remains the most complex segment because of the four-track interchange planned with the future Orange Line at Hebbal and pending Outer Ring Road clearances.

On the ground, the Silk Board–KR Puram stretch (Phase 2A, 19.75 km) is in its final push. According to the minister, trial runs from KR Puram to Iblur will begin in October, but train movement between Iblur and Silk Board Junction would be pushed by three months, to December or January. The delay at the Silk Board end is tied to a fairly technical but crucial piece of engineering: the metro viaduct will be extended by about 413.8 metres above the present flyover so that the trains will be able to reverse. Officials have also flagged pending works at Marathahalli as a factor that could affect how far the initial trial runs are able to extend.

Further north, Phase 2B, the 38.44-km KR Puram-to-Airport extension via Hebbal with 17 stations, is moving at an uneven pace. The Hebbal–Airport section is targeted for completion by June 2027, while the Hebbal-KR Pura segment is expected to be ready by the end of that year. BMRCL Managing Director J Ravishankar recently inspected this stretch, reviewing viaduct construction, station buildings and the depot coming up at Shettigere, and instructed engineers to strictly adhere to target dates while maintaining safety protocols. The depot land acquisition is already complete, and construction there has been progressing at what officials describe as a satisfactory pace.

Progress figures reported to Parliament and by BMRCL tell a nuanced story. The Union government informed Parliament that 72 per cent of civil construction on the 58-km corridor has been completed, while BMRCL's own June 2025 update pegged overall physical progress on the Blue Line at 52.5% and financial progress at 55.89%. The gap between these numbers reflects the difference between civil structure completion and the full scope of work, including track-laying, signalling, electrical systems and station finishing, all of which still need to be completed before commercial operations can begin.

For homebuyers and investors, the Blue Line's significance goes well beyond travel time savings. Once open, the Blue Line will also be the only Namma Metro line to touch three other operating or under-construction lines — Yellow (Silk Board), Pink (Nagawara) and, via the shared Baiyappanahalli depot infrastructure, Purple — making it a connective spine linking Electronic City, Whitefield, HSR Layout, Hebbal, Yelahanka and the airport onto a single network. This kind of multi-line access typically supports steady appreciation in property values along the corridor, particularly in micro-markets like Marathahalli, Kadubeesanahalli, Hebbal and the Bagalur–Devanahalli stretch near the airport, where Brigade has an established presence.

While the timeline has moved more than once, the direction of travel is clear: civil works are largely done on the southern stretch, trial runs are imminent, and the airport link, while pushed to 2027-28, remains firmly on BMRCL's active construction agenda. For anyone evaluating a home along this corridor, the practical takeaway is to treat metro connectivity as a medium-term tailwind rather than an immediate amenity, and to weigh a project's current road connectivity, social infrastructure and builder track record just as carefully as its metro proximity.