In a bid to provide smooth connectivity to daily commuters between KSR Bangalore city railway station and Kempegowda international airport, the railways have planned to link the two with an exclusive suburban railway network.
The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) have recently submitted a revised Detailed Project Report on the same to the Indian Railways. A few months ago only, the DPR to link these routes have been prepared and send but due to its unfeasibility and its length, it was not approved by the railways.
As per the new DPR, now the new network will comprise of four corridors. These corridors will start from KSR railway station and end at the International airport. This includes KSR Bangalore-Devanahalli, Chikkabanavara-Yeshwantpur-Byappanahalli, Heelalige-Yelahanka-Rajanukunte, and Kengeri-KSR Bangalore-Whitefield.
The revised DPR has decreased the proposed suburban railway route length to 147 km from the earlier 161 km. Also, the suburban stations were cut down to 53 from 82. Because, of all such cuts, the project cost has also been decreased to Rs 16,000 crore.
The revised DPR has been set by the Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (K-RIDE) on the guidelines of RITES. The above firm is also working closely for the railway project. The DPR also informed that the reason behind decreasing the number of stations is to provide relief to thousands of daily commuters so that they must not face rush during peak hours.
In a separate development, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) has also planned to link the Southern and Eastern areas of the city by linking the corridors between Devanahalli and Central Silk Board Junction. This will again provide relief to daily commuters travelling within the two regions.