Centre set to clear Rs16,000-cr Bengaluru suburban rail project
06 Dec 2019
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The centre is in the process of reviving the long-pending proposal for a Rs16,000-crore suburban rail system for Bengaluru city and will give its go-ahead after getting details about land from the Karnataka government, minister of state for railways Suresh Angadi said in Rajya Sabha today.
Reports say, a cabinet note for the Rs15,990-crore project has already been prepared and submitted to the railway minister Piyush Goyal, who will now have to give his consent and place it before the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA).
The Extended Board of Railways had also approved the 148.17km project on 4 November.
Responding during the question hour, Angadi said the project has been pending due to non-cooperation from the previous Congress-JDS led state government.
The B S Yediyurappa government in Karnataka has submitted a revised detailed project report (DPR) that proposes around 55-odd suburban railway stations covering a distance of about 150 km.
The state government has proposed to execute the work through the Rail lnfrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd (K-RIDE) and a special purpose vehicle has to be formed to implement the project.
The suburban rail project, if approved by the CCEA in December, would take another 10 years for completion, ie by 2030, according to railway officials.
Much will depend on the speed at which land is acquired, route plans approved - many of which are congested areas of the city – and the speed at which construction is carried out.
The project will have four corridors: Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru City)-Yesvantpur-Yelahanka-Devanahalli-Kempegowda International Airport (41.4km); Baiyappanahalli-Banaswadi-Lottegehalli-Whitefield-Yesvantpur-Chikkabanavara (25.01km); Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield (35.52km) and Heelalige-Baiyappanahalli-Channasandra-Yelahanka-Rajanakunte (46.24km). The airport route would be opened first, it had been announced earlier.
