The Blue Line is the metro corridor most closely tied to how Bengaluru's working population lives: it links Central Silk Board to KR Puram along the Outer Ring Road, then runs north through Hebbal and Yelahanka to Kempegowda International Airport. Residents of Bellandur, Marathahalli and the north have been waiting years for it, and the dates have moved more than once.

Below is what has been officially reported, with dates, followed by a sober reading of what the delays mean for property buyers.

The corridor in numbers

  • Total length: 58.19 km, with the project cost put at ₹14,788 crore, per Business Today (6 August 2026).
  • Phase 2A, Central Silk Board to KR Puram: 19.75 km (Business Today). Wikipedia lists 13 stations: Central Silk Board, HSR Layout, Agara, Ibbaluru, Prestige Bellandur, Embassy TechVillage Kadubeesanahalli, Kodibeesanahalli, Marathahalli, ISRO, Doddanekundi, Bagmane Developers - DRDO Sports Complex, Saraswathi Nagara and KR Puram.
  • Phase 2B, KR Puram to the airport: 38.44 km passing through Hebbal and Yelahanka (Business Today). Wikipedia's list of stations on this stretch includes Kasturi Nagara, Horamavu, HRBR Layout, Kalyana Nagara, HBR Layout, Nagawara, Kempapura, Hebbala, Kodigehalli, Jakkuru Cross, Yelahanka, Bagalur Cross, Doddajala, Airport City and KIAL Terminals.
  • Progress: BMRCL put overall airport-corridor progress at 72.75 percent, per NativePlanet (24 August 2026). Business Today (6 August 2026) reported about 72 percent.
  • Projected ridership: 6.15 lakh passengers a day once operational, as reported by Business Today. This is a projection, not an observed figure.

How the dates have moved

The original plan was commercial operations on the ORR leg by the end of 2026 with trial runs in October 2026. Swarajya reported on 16 August 2026 that a BMRCL official said meeting the 2026 commercial target was not feasible and that the date would be pushed to 2027, possibly mid-year.

The reasons reported by Swarajya for the ORR section include incomplete civil works at Marathahalli and Central Silk Board, the pending connection to the Baiyappanahalli depot, utilities and land issues at Iblur, design coordination with the proposed Sarjapur to Hebbal corridor, drainage works at Central Silk Board, and a Blue-to-Yellow Line connector at Silk Board still at tendering stage.

For the airport leg, NativePlanet (24 August 2026) reported targets of September 2027 for Hebbal to the airport, early 2028 for KR Puram to Hebbal, and March 2028 for the full Silk Board to airport line. Business Today (6 August 2026) reported a completion target of end-2027 with remaining construction aimed at June 2027 before phased commissioning. These statements differ, which is itself the finding: the airport-leg date is not settled.

Why the ORR leg is the one buyers watch

The ORR is Bengaluru's densest office corridor. NativePlanet's 24 August 2026 report cited estimates of 8 to 10 lakh employees travelling it daily across more than 500 firms, and flagged a proposed ₹450 crore road overlay scheduled from October 2026 to January 2027 that could worsen traffic if it overlaps with metro works.

That context explains why Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Marathahalli and HSR Layout homes have been priced partly on the promise of the line. A delay does not remove the benefit, but it pushes out the date from which it can be counted on.

North Bengaluru: a different story

North of KR Puram, the line passes Hebbal and Yelahanka and reaches the airport. Property markets here have been priced more on the airport, the business park and wider infrastructure than on the line alone. The line's value to a buyer in, say, Yelahanka or Devanahalli lies in a future airport commute and in eventual access to Hebbal and the Nagawara interchange with the Pink Line.

Because the 2B dates cluster in 2027 and 2028, a buyer purchasing today for self-use should assume the metro is a 2028-and-after benefit.

What the delay means for a buyer

  • Avoid paying a full metro premium today for a service that is at least a year away. The premium on a not-yet-open line is a bet, not a fact.
  • Weigh the interim: ORR traffic will probably worsen before it improves if construction and the proposed overlay coincide, which affects rentals in the short term.
  • Check the station location relative to the project. The Blue Line has stations at specific nodes such as Agara, Ibbaluru and Doddanekundi; a project 3 km from the nearest one gets a different benefit from one within walking distance.
  • For investors, rental demand from ORR employers is the underlying driver; the metro supports it but does not replace it.

Our view

The Blue Line will matter to Bengaluru, and at 72 percent of airport-corridor progress it is well past the point of cancellation risk. But the exact opening dates for each leg are officially fluid, and a patient buyer loses little by waiting for a firm announcement before paying a premium tied to it. Buy the neighbourhood and the building first; treat the metro as an upside that arrives on its own schedule.