Baiyappanahalli-Hosur suburban line picks up pace

The doubling of the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur railway line has gathered pace in the last three months with KRIDE completing nearly 30% of the earth work till Heelalige.

Officials are also expecting to get approval to clear 1,000 eucalyptus and acacia trees on the Anekal-Heelalige stretch.

The Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka), which is implementing the suburban rail project, has awarded separate tenders for several packages of earthwork, including bridge construction and track linking along the 48-kilometre line.

A senior KRIDE official said an extensive survey has been held to identify the potential monetisation opportunities in the 57 stations in the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP).

Existing stations on the lines like Bellandur, Heelalige and Anekal will be dismantled, and authorities are planning multi-floor structures in their place for better monetisation.

Read | Powerful ‘govt’ forces allowed Bengaluru luxury project on sensitive lake land: NGT

“As of now, there is no clarity on the market appetite for such space in all the stations. However, our consultants have pointed to huge potential for the stations on the Hosur line, which is next to the IT corridor of the city. Bellandur, for example, is one station where we hope to come up with a smart station, provided that the yard remodelling permits the same,” he said.

Doubling of the lines also meant KRIDE has to build a yard covering four or five tracks that would occupy more space with the stations. Various design options have been worked out to optimise the space, officials said.

Approval to cut trees

KRIDE has sought to axe 1,743 trees between Bellandur and the Tamil Nadu border near Anekal.

An official said initial approval has been obtained to fell 1,034 trees from Anekal to the state border.

According to the proposal, 1,006 trees are eucalyptus and 725 are acacia.

“Once the trees are cleared, we can expedite the work, which was affected during the pandemic. Good progress has been observed between Baiyappanahalli and Maranayakanahalli,” a source said.