K-RIDE fears lack of land for suburban rail if quadrupling of Whitefield railway line is taken up

The Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Enterprise (K-RIDE), which is tasked with the responsibility of building a 148-km suburban rail network, has voiced concerns over the quadrupling work being taken up on the Whitefield stretch.

The K-RIDE fears lack of railway land to build the third suburban rail corridor on the 18-km stretch if the South Western Railway (SWR) completes adding two new tracks.

During the recent Board meeting, Amit Garg, managing director (now replaced by Gaurav Gupta, additional chief secretary), said the K-RIDE will not be able to get railway land to construct dedicated line if the SWR proceeds with the quadrupling project.

As sharing of lines between Indian Railways (long distance) and the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (local services) will be complex operational challenge,
the Board was of the opinion that it is better to opt for dedicated suburban lines in this section.

As per the minutes of the meeting, “This will not only streamline the suburban traffic in this area but also consolidate future expansion of suburban network towards Bangarpet”. The SWR has taken up quadrupling of Bengaluru Cantonment-Whitefield section in two parts.

While the small stretch up to Baiyappanahalli is likely to be completed by mid-2023, the SWR may take longer time to complete the remaining section due to land acquisition challenges.

Elevated section

As per the K-RIDE’s design, the Cantonment-Whitefield section of the suburban rail corridor is proposed as an elevated section, which is expected to shoot up the cost of civil, signalling and tele-communication works. The project also requires separate specific approval of the Ministry of Railways. The Board has decided to hold a separate meeting on this subject again.