In a major development, the Karnataka Government and the Central Govt has cleared the pathways and jointly given their approval to kick off the Suburban Railway project in the Bengaluru city. This was the most long-awaited project which was waiting to get the approval as it was stuck in the middle due to issues between the center and the state govt.
The idea to develop suburban railway project in the city was first conceived 20 years back. In order to kick-off the project once again, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal met with Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Giving more details about the meeting, Goyal said, “We have changed the suburban railway policy, amending the state and the central contribution from 80:20 to 50:50 ratio. The total estimated expenditure of the project is Rs. 23000 crore, of which both state and centre share the amount. The project is expected to complete in 6 years of time.”
In order to make this project more feasible, the centre has decided to grant railway land at a nominal lease basis of Re 1 per acre. This will reduce the overall costing by approximately 30%.
About the Project
The 161 km long Suburban railway project with connect the city major areas to the suburb. It will have 82 stations with 12 interchange station with the Metro network. The suburban railway will have 4 corridors; Kengeri – Whitefield, Bangalore – Rajankunte, Neelmangala – Bypanhalli and Heelalige – Devanhalli.
Goyal also informed that the railway has been planning use ‘Make in India’, air-conditioned EMU (Electrical Multiple Unit) rakes under the project to provide a safer journey to the commuters. They are also planning to intorduce multimodal tickets so that the passengers travelling by suburban railway can use the same tickets for the metro ride too.